Chapter 4 – Dark Business
AC205 – March 1
A tall figure stood out on a high balcony overlooking a massive courtyard. He stared at the three moons close together in the pitch black sky. He took a sip of the dark red liquid in the glass he held on his left hand.
Shino Kan Ridek Ber'kul looked contemplatively into the endless expanse of space. From his home within the confines of the Wakar Prime, all the conquests of the great Wakari Gar Ubri ( grand military) seemed small and distant. But his mind was on one of the most distant ones, the young colony on Alpha Centauri. He didn't expect to come into contact with another civilization so soon after the conquest of another. The treaty with the race of humans was his idea, and though the proposal would have been laughed at had it come from the mouth of another, the Emperius and the Cor Valor (Council of High Lords) took him seriously. It had not always been so.
Ridek was tall and strongly-built, even by Wakari standards. He wore the mark of his House proudly on his right cheek, though his plain horn indicated his disdain for decoration common among the rest of nobility. He was the epitome of the Wakari warrior. Yet he was not always so, for he was never a pure-blood. Ridek was classified a half-breed, though the only indicator of such would be the slight tint of his platinum-colored hair. He was considered a mongrel by Wakari society. Wherever corner within the Wakari Dominion to which he fled, he was outcast. In one extensive cleansing campaign, he was caught and placed in prison, sentenced to the ignoble death of Wakari society's forgotten children. Yet one day, he got himself in a jail fight that ended with him killing half of his opponents' total number. This feat caught the eye of a passing Wakari Garn (Inspector rank), who saved him from execution by turning him into an arena fighter. He spent ten years as a participant in the Wakari's favorite blood sport, the Maha'i Sha, where combatants killed each other for the possession of a golden ball. The ball meant for them the right to live until the next game, and the game does not end until only one combatant can possess the ball as his own. The combatants fought en masse, allowing the crowd to glory in the sheer violence of the chaotic, frantic battles among Wakari outcasts destined to die. Ridek survived every bloody game, and learned how to use the Maha'i Sha to endear himself to the rest of society. He made bloody every single kill he made, and often smeared the blood of his enemies on his face as war paint. He was called Dai Girad, Great Warrior, a title officially used only for the greatest of Wakari war heroes.
His fortunes would not end there. He caught the eye of a young Wakari noblewoman, Shirana of the House Ber'kul. She was young, naïve, romantic, and eager to have the greatest of the Maha'i Sha champions as her husband and trophy. Ridek took advantage of her characteristics and married her, earning for himself a ticket to freedom and mainstream society as well as a House with which to associate his name with. Instead of the customary use of his surname, he found no significance in his and took in his wife's, associating himself closer to the House leadership. His strength of character saw him dominating all family affairs, with his wife comfortably distracted by the pleasures of nobility and the bedroom. He slowly climbed the ladder within the House. The House Ber'kul was weak to be sure, but upon the death of the House alpha male, he had the heir assassinated in shadow and ascended to the leadership by default. Once made the head of the House of Ber'kul, he joined the most glorified institution in Wakari society, the Wakari Gar Ubri. The great Wakari military was poised to achieve its dreams of a greater empire, and there had been a steady stream of both noble and ordinary Wakari alike towards the ranks of the military. Ridek started out a senior officer commanding ground forces, but he knew the future was in the Wakari armada and switched branches upon promotion. He made the rank of Kan in a few years, and was made commander of the Girad Class space cruiser WDA Dalmak (Tempest). Victories followed him everywhere. With a small armada of fifty space cruisers and five hundred destroyers, he destroyed most of the Veliran Royal Fleet's five thousand ships in the critical Battle of Narn's Nebula. With the defeat of the Wakari Dominion's greatest imperial rival following the great battle, the victory was elevated to a legend sung even by the lowliest of Wakari bards. He was promoted to the formal rank of Shino Ubri Kan, with full command of the entire Wakari war machine. The Dalmak was elevated to the status of Flagship, and from there Ridek conquered and expanded the Wakari Dominion to 500% its size before he was promoted. His most recent conquest was the last of the Borillian empire, their last stronghold on Alpha Centauri. Then, they discovered the humans…
"Hail to the Dominion, Mir Ridek!" someone said behind him. "Or is it Valor Ridek now?"
"Mir Jagar…" he said, acknowledging the person. "Back from Alpha Centauri, I see."
"It is about time you were promoted," Jagar said. "Half breed or not, a legend deserves to be on the Cor Valor. You should've been inducted when you defeated the Sorg Alliance."
"Thank you," Ridek said. "Do you bring news of our treaty with the humans? With me in the Cor Valor, having the plan approved there would be no problem. Besides, this kind of thing is common to them."
"I'm sure they will comply, sire," said Jagar. "Our first shipment was attacked by human radicals, but it is an isolated incident. The first part of the treaty has already been signed."
"And our right to trade for their gundanium?" Ridek asked. "You know how crucial that is."
"Human generals are dissenting. They don't trust us," he replied. "But that human female minister assured me it would come eventually."
"Their generals are smart," said Ridek. "But they do not have the same powers our own generals have. Imagine, being hampered by a female like Relena. Its as if they were all castrated."
"She is a strong female," Jagar said. Ridek smiled.
"A fine trophy. Worthy of any conqueror."
"You are mated though," Jagar said. "Shirana won't share. Not that it would've stopped you."
"Of course. You've been among the humans for too long. Besides, Shirana is too weak and too preoccupied with the benefits of my prestige to care," Ridek replied. "But let's not talk about females now, I'm sure you've had your fill. Tell me, how do you find the universal translator's decipher of their language?"
"As useful as you have, sire," Jagar said. "However, when I speak, some of our words come out in original form. Some of their words are not translated as well. This is rare in other species."
"That's because some of our words have no direct translation to their language. It is not programmed to make approximations and contexts on meanings," Ridek said. "The same is true for their language. Some of their words cannot be translated because we don't have an equivalent. For example, they have this strange word "love", which does not have any equivalent in our language."
"It must be due to their being a primitive species," Jagar concluded. "A primitive language with primitive concepts goes with it."
"Probably. But even though they are primitive, do not underestimate them. I sense some form of strength in these humans…"
~~~
Trowa woke up from his deep sleep. His vision was hazy, but he could tell that it was already night time. He tried to get up, but a stinging pain shot from his shoulder through the rest of his back. He lay back down, grimacing in pain. He heard someone beside the bed stir.
"Don't move too much, Trowa," she said. "That wound of yours has not healed yet."
"Catherine…" he mumbled. "Where am I?"
"Home…" she replied, placing a wet cloth over his forehead. "At least your fever is beginning to show signs of decreasing."
"How did I get here?" he asked.
"Like you did four years ago," she replied. "I found you outside."
Slowly, memories of what happened began to return to Trowa. He remembered managing to escape pursuing soldiers in the space station. He was barely able to stow away, hiding beneath a large shipment of coffee beans to throw away his scent from the dogs. Once the ship had blasted off, he had to take off his makeshift bandage, which had begun to leak blood again. He managed to make a another makeshift bandage out of cloth from the bundles of clothes in the cargo bay. But the lack of treatment saw the wound eventually become infected. He stumbled out of the cargo hold severely weakened by the lack of food and the growing infection of his wound.
He tried to reach their mountain hideout on L3, but he found the mountain crawling with government soldiers. If he tried for one of the hidden entrances, he could risk tipping off some of the soldiers nearby. He waited in the forest for several days, waiting for the soldiers to give up and leave. But they kept the mountain quarantined. Trowa was worried. He worried that his comrades might get discovered, or that they would starve to death. Most of all, he was worried for her. Midii Une would be bearing the burden of leading a desperate group of cornered guerillas. He feared a mutiny. But his wounds weakened him with impunity.
After waiting for several more days, he felt his resolve go with his body, so he retreated to the circus. His memories didn't go beyond remembering stepping through the circus gate.
"How long have I been out?" he asked.
"Its been six days," Catherine answered. "The doctor said you were lucky. Infection nearly killed you."
"I have to go to them…" he said.
"No, you're staying here!" she admonished. "You have barely recovered. The military is also looking for you. Besides, the Gray Wolves will survive without you." Her voice suddenly hushed down. "But I won't…"
"What did you say?"
"Huh? Nothing…"
Trowa winced as Catherine changed the bandage on his wound. "You'll be in danger if the military finds me here," he said, momentarily ignoring the dull ache on his shoulder.
"Don't underestimate me, Trowa," she said. "I'm not some princess used to the easy life."
"You are innocent of all this," he said. "It wouldn't be fair to you."
"I'd rather have soldiers chasing me…" she said. "…rather than seeing you walk away from me again."
"Catherine…"
"Stop treating me like a child, Trowa," she said. "I'm older than you. I'm no stranger to hardship. Don't look at me as if I'm some weakling in your way."
"You're strong Catherine," he said. He placed his hand over hers. "But I won't forgive myself if something happened to you because of me."
~~~
MP Quatre Winner nearly spewed his tea all over the paper he was reading in front of him. He had been absent during the last Parliament session, so he had an aide deliver to him a summary of what was discussed. What he read had disturbed him.
"Trade gundanium to the aliens?" Quatre read in disbelief. "We could barely synthesize enough for five mobile suits, let alone give some to the Wakari."
Rashid, the lead Maguanac, came up to him. "Sir, she's awake."
Quatre finished the rest of his tea and followed Rashid to the third floor of his mansion. He stopped in front of a large set of double doors. He knocked twice and opened the doors. The room was well-lit, brightened by light-colored flowers and colorful Arabic tapestry. Upon the large canopy bed lay a young girl, bundled up in silken sheets. She saw him, and quickly averted her gaze.
"Good morning, Fatima," Quatre said. "Feeling better today?"
"Go away, father!" she said.
Quatre sighed. Fatima was only six years old, yet she already had her mother's fiery temper and stiff defiance. Quatre had been elected as one of L4's three representatives for the last four years, as well as an interim leader before the formation of the Federation. He married Dorothy Catalonia after the war of 197, a marriage that people thought was arranged to keep Dorothy from getting prosecuted as a war criminal for her crimes during the war of 195. Quatre rightly suspected that in Dorothy's mind, it was. But he took pity on her and tried to love her anyway. It would not last long though. Dorothy died giving birth to a young girl. Quatre found himself shedding tears upon her burial, but he was somewhat gratified as well. Dorothy, long a warmonger, gave her own life so that another innocent one may live.
Despite Quatre's gentle parenting, Fatima ended up more like her mother than like him. His work made him a very busy man as well. The time he could spend with his daughter declined. He sent her to the most prestigious private school on L4 when she was five, and the previous day saw her suspended for fighting with a fellow student. She was sent home to wait out the sentence of five days.
"Honey, is everything ok?" Quatre asked as he sat beside his daughter. "Does the black eye still hurt?"
"No," the young girl replied.
"Would you mind explaining yourself to me?" he asked. "I never raised you to be a bully."
"Its not my fault," she answered in a subtly sarcastic voice. "She ran into my fist."
"Oh, ok," he said, smiling. "Maybe the school just thought it was a fight. I'll go explain tomorrow. You just relax and let those bruises heal."
"Dad!" his daughter cried angrily. "You knew I was making it up! Why don't you get mad? Why don't you even care?"
She buried herself under the sheets, telling Quatre to go away when he tried to coax her out. Giving up, Quatre exited the room.
"Why is she like that, Rashid?" he asked his friend. "I've been caring and nurturing her all her life. Why is she acting like this? She's only six, not sixteen."
"Her birthday was five days ago, sir," Rashid said. "You weren't even home. Then, there was the recital, the school play…"
"It was five days ago?" Quatre asked incredulously. "Ok, I get the point. But isn't this phase supposed to be dormant for another five or so years?"
"Some children grow up so fast nowadays, sir," Rashid said. "Your daughter is very intelligent. Not to question your methods, sir, but I don't think its her fault."
Quatre sighed. "Maybe so, Rashid. Anyway, prepare the shuttle. I'm going to Brussels after a short stopover."
~~~
General Marquise paced back and forth furiously as Lt. Colonel Heero Yuy stood at attention. He waved a newspaper furiously in the air.
"How can this happen?" Zechs asked, slamming the newspaper down on the desk. "Trade gundanium?! This was never explicitly part of the negotiations! And the fact that I had to learn this from the morning news!! What the hell happened to advance intelligence Lt. Col. Yuy!?"
"She never told me, sir," Heero said. "I scanned her documents. Its not even in her diary. I think it was a deal with this Wakari general she never mentioned. If she had, she would have certainly been assassinated. Yet now, she can trade off all the oxygen in the world and the people could care less. Her popularity rating is peaking."
"The wording of the treaty…" Zechs fumed. "It allows for such loopholes. My sister is a fool…"
"My apologies, sir," Heero said. "This shall never happen again."
"Make sure of it," Zechs said. "If we have to save this planet from my sister's idiocy by ourselves, then by God, we will."
~~~
Wufei watched as students loitered around L5SU's campus garden. He adjusted his glasses as he sipped his coffee, noting with disdain the noise and litter the students produced in what would've been a beautiful garden. As he strolled past a rising hillock, he noticed a person sitting on the grass, staring far into the horizon.
"Are you going to miss my class again, Ms. Khrushrenada?" he called out as he walked toward her. The girl turned and looked at him, then scrambled to climb onto her wheelchair.
"No, sir," she said as Wufei stood before her. "I was just…"
"Day dreaming again?" Wufei said with a snort. "You could have saved me a lot of trouble by just dropping out of my course! Class is in ten minutes, and I doubt you'd be getting your butt off the grass within the next hour! I swear, your family line will be the death of me yet…"
Mariemaia turned away as Wufei continued to berate her. "College is not for the weak of mind or the weak of commitment, or for those who are just plain weak! You are a testament to this injustice the university system piles on us scholars and teachers!"
Wufei stopped his tirade when he noticed her shoulders shaking. He felt a a bit of pity, not used to seeing the subjects of his rants break down.
"Stop crying, for goodness sake…" Wufei said, leveling the tone of his voice. "Oh alright, I'll push your chair to class…"
Wufei pushed the Mariemaia's wheel chair slowly down the small hill and towards the main building. While the were walking, Wufei heard her whisper something, before looking up at him.
"What did you say?" he asked.
"I said you don't understand anything…" she replied.
Wufei was about to retort, but he noticed another man coming.
"Ah, Wufei! Good, I managed to catch you before class." Quatre said good- naturedly. "I see you are with Captain Une's adopted daughter."
"What brings you here, old friend?" Wufei asked, a smile on his face.
"Did you read the morning news?"
Wufei shook his head. "I prefer reading the papers after classes."
"Well, let me save you the shock," Quatre said. "Their planning to trade gundanium to the Wakari."
"And what has this have to do with me?" Wufei asked. "Sounds like a fair trade considering how much technology we got."
"But think of it," Quatre said. "Gundanium is stronger than strongest alloys the Wakari have managed to synthesize. They'd trade piddling technologies to get their hands on gundanium, strengthening themselves while neutralizing the only bit of advantage we'd have."
"You speak as if we're going to war," Wufei said. "You're beginning to sound like that fool Zechs. Too idiotically hawkish, even for a man of war like me."
Quatre, seeing that his friend was immovable, tried a different tact. "Sure, let's trade gundanium. I wonder how Nataku would feel if her likeness was cloned by the Wakari?"
Something old in Wufei began to kick in. "Injustice!!! There is only one, and I laid her to rest eight years ago! Do you really think they'd do that?"
"They are a space-faring people, possibly with many enemies. What do you think?"
~~~
"And to what do I owe the honor of this visit?" Relena asked, offering Quatre and Wufei seats in her office. "We do not have any business before us from the Parliament."
"Yes we have, Relena," Quatre said, abandoning formalities of office. "Care to explain that horrid bit of news in the morning papers?"
"I told a reporter about it," Relena said. "Spread like wildfire. Don't worry, I don't think it will cause much harm."
"Gundanium was supposed to be a secret," Quatre said. "You'll end up opening inquiries into the Gundams again. And that is not even half of it. You'd trade a secret we'd never give an outside organization to an alien civilization we barely even know."
Relena turned to Wufei. "You co-authored a particularly favorable report on Wakari civilization, Professor. Do we have anything to fear from the Wakari?"
"No, I have no reason to believe there is such," Wufei said. "But I would heed Quatre's prudence. To trade Gundanium would leave us vulnerable should they decide to make war. The Parliament would end up a Wakari lap dog if we do not have any advantage over them."
"Look at what they gave us," Relena said. "Our ships can now travel light years in the span of a few minutes. And these spaceships are equipped with energy-based shielding. They have improved several of our own weapons systems. If any, they have done more to make us a threat than we would if we traded Gundanium."
"We are a small population compared to them," Quatre responded. "They can easily overwhelm us, and Gundanium will make that a whole lot easier. Besides, you practically handed them the Ministry of Trade. Exclusive rights? We're practically licking their boots."
"The Wakari have no use for bananas, or Earth fish, Quatre," Relena riposted. "I could only get what we got through Gundanium. What else would keep their interest? I did what I had to do. When it comes down to it, we stand on equal terms with them. As for the inquiries into the Gundams, the law will prevent that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do…"
As the two rose to leave, Quatre said, "You know we'll stop this in Parliament. Whether you like it or not."
~~~
AC205 – March 15
"We have 75 yea votes and 250 nay votes," said the Prime Minister as the Parliament wrapped up the voting. "It is decided that the Federation shall not honor the backdoor agreement to trade Gundanium to the Wakari, while honoring all other items as stipulated in the treaty."
Looking through the glass window of a high chamber, the Peacecraft siblings watched the proceedings of the World Parliament. A small smile formed on Zechs' face as he heard the Parliament's decision. He had spoken against his sister's deal before the Parliament earlier, just as his sister spoke for the deal. His victory was clear.
"Looks like you pissed enough people off with this dark business dealings of yours," Zechs said. "I'm surprised they're not trying you for treason."
"They can't," Relena retorted. "What I did was in the best interest of Earth. You and your hawks just ruined it."
"My people worked hard to stop you from selling us off," Zechs answered back. "They're the reason you're not being lynched today. You ought to be grateful."
Zechs drank in the look on his sister's face. "No hard feelings, sister. Besides, I believe it was you who told me that politics is a game with no rights or wrongs. Be a good sport now."
He tapped Heero's shoulder as he walked out, making sure Relena wasn't looking.
"She's going to need you now," he whispered to him. "You know your job."
"Yes, sir."
~~~
As he reached the Parliament building's lobby, Zechs saw his wife waiting for him by the lounge. He walked toward her, hoping to surprise her, but she had turned and noticed him halfway. She dropped the magazine she was reading and ran into his arms.
"Congratulations, honey," she said, kissing him.
"Thanks, Lucrezia," Zechs said. "Did you wait through the entire proceeding? It would've bored you to death. I thought I was supposed to pick you up at the department store."
"If you were going to speak in it, how could it be boring for me?" Lucrezia said.
The couple held hands as they walked out to the parking lot. Zechs noticed the pensive look on Lucrezia's face once again. He felt somewhat concerned.
"Penny for your thoughts?" he said. "What are you thinking about this time?"
"Oh, nothing much," she said. "Its just that, I remember how hard we fought back then. So many battles…before, during and even after the wars. So much was done to protect the secrets behind those conflicts. And now, your sister so easily throws it all into the hands of a foreign species…"
She looked at him. "That's why I'm so happy your side won. Not just because it was a moment of triumph for you, but because it was a moment of triumph for all those who fought in those wars."
When they reached the car, Zechs playfully embraced Lucrezia and pinned her to the door of the vehicle. "I know how to bring that smile back," he said.
"Zechs!" she squealed. "What are you doing? Mmmph…"
Zechs silenced her with a long, passionate kiss. She responded by slowly wrapping her arms around his neck. After a while, they parted briefly, before Zechs began kissing down his wife's neck.
"Stop it…" Lucrezia whimpered, amused. "We're in the middle of an open-air parking lot…"
"So what?" Zechs asked, his voice muffled by his wife's neck. "Nothing wrong with a bit of spontaneity from your stiff general husband. I have battle lust. We can finish in the car…"
"But, people will see us…" she said, smiling contentedly. She made no move to stop him.
"Let them. What are they going to do? Arrest me?"
"Your superior…"
"Let General Anderson and his cow of a wife turn green with envy…"
"Oh, honey…"
~~~
AC205 – March 1
A tall figure stood out on a high balcony overlooking a massive courtyard. He stared at the three moons close together in the pitch black sky. He took a sip of the dark red liquid in the glass he held on his left hand.
Shino Kan Ridek Ber'kul looked contemplatively into the endless expanse of space. From his home within the confines of the Wakar Prime, all the conquests of the great Wakari Gar Ubri ( grand military) seemed small and distant. But his mind was on one of the most distant ones, the young colony on Alpha Centauri. He didn't expect to come into contact with another civilization so soon after the conquest of another. The treaty with the race of humans was his idea, and though the proposal would have been laughed at had it come from the mouth of another, the Emperius and the Cor Valor (Council of High Lords) took him seriously. It had not always been so.
Ridek was tall and strongly-built, even by Wakari standards. He wore the mark of his House proudly on his right cheek, though his plain horn indicated his disdain for decoration common among the rest of nobility. He was the epitome of the Wakari warrior. Yet he was not always so, for he was never a pure-blood. Ridek was classified a half-breed, though the only indicator of such would be the slight tint of his platinum-colored hair. He was considered a mongrel by Wakari society. Wherever corner within the Wakari Dominion to which he fled, he was outcast. In one extensive cleansing campaign, he was caught and placed in prison, sentenced to the ignoble death of Wakari society's forgotten children. Yet one day, he got himself in a jail fight that ended with him killing half of his opponents' total number. This feat caught the eye of a passing Wakari Garn (Inspector rank), who saved him from execution by turning him into an arena fighter. He spent ten years as a participant in the Wakari's favorite blood sport, the Maha'i Sha, where combatants killed each other for the possession of a golden ball. The ball meant for them the right to live until the next game, and the game does not end until only one combatant can possess the ball as his own. The combatants fought en masse, allowing the crowd to glory in the sheer violence of the chaotic, frantic battles among Wakari outcasts destined to die. Ridek survived every bloody game, and learned how to use the Maha'i Sha to endear himself to the rest of society. He made bloody every single kill he made, and often smeared the blood of his enemies on his face as war paint. He was called Dai Girad, Great Warrior, a title officially used only for the greatest of Wakari war heroes.
His fortunes would not end there. He caught the eye of a young Wakari noblewoman, Shirana of the House Ber'kul. She was young, naïve, romantic, and eager to have the greatest of the Maha'i Sha champions as her husband and trophy. Ridek took advantage of her characteristics and married her, earning for himself a ticket to freedom and mainstream society as well as a House with which to associate his name with. Instead of the customary use of his surname, he found no significance in his and took in his wife's, associating himself closer to the House leadership. His strength of character saw him dominating all family affairs, with his wife comfortably distracted by the pleasures of nobility and the bedroom. He slowly climbed the ladder within the House. The House Ber'kul was weak to be sure, but upon the death of the House alpha male, he had the heir assassinated in shadow and ascended to the leadership by default. Once made the head of the House of Ber'kul, he joined the most glorified institution in Wakari society, the Wakari Gar Ubri. The great Wakari military was poised to achieve its dreams of a greater empire, and there had been a steady stream of both noble and ordinary Wakari alike towards the ranks of the military. Ridek started out a senior officer commanding ground forces, but he knew the future was in the Wakari armada and switched branches upon promotion. He made the rank of Kan in a few years, and was made commander of the Girad Class space cruiser WDA Dalmak (Tempest). Victories followed him everywhere. With a small armada of fifty space cruisers and five hundred destroyers, he destroyed most of the Veliran Royal Fleet's five thousand ships in the critical Battle of Narn's Nebula. With the defeat of the Wakari Dominion's greatest imperial rival following the great battle, the victory was elevated to a legend sung even by the lowliest of Wakari bards. He was promoted to the formal rank of Shino Ubri Kan, with full command of the entire Wakari war machine. The Dalmak was elevated to the status of Flagship, and from there Ridek conquered and expanded the Wakari Dominion to 500% its size before he was promoted. His most recent conquest was the last of the Borillian empire, their last stronghold on Alpha Centauri. Then, they discovered the humans…
"Hail to the Dominion, Mir Ridek!" someone said behind him. "Or is it Valor Ridek now?"
"Mir Jagar…" he said, acknowledging the person. "Back from Alpha Centauri, I see."
"It is about time you were promoted," Jagar said. "Half breed or not, a legend deserves to be on the Cor Valor. You should've been inducted when you defeated the Sorg Alliance."
"Thank you," Ridek said. "Do you bring news of our treaty with the humans? With me in the Cor Valor, having the plan approved there would be no problem. Besides, this kind of thing is common to them."
"I'm sure they will comply, sire," said Jagar. "Our first shipment was attacked by human radicals, but it is an isolated incident. The first part of the treaty has already been signed."
"And our right to trade for their gundanium?" Ridek asked. "You know how crucial that is."
"Human generals are dissenting. They don't trust us," he replied. "But that human female minister assured me it would come eventually."
"Their generals are smart," said Ridek. "But they do not have the same powers our own generals have. Imagine, being hampered by a female like Relena. Its as if they were all castrated."
"She is a strong female," Jagar said. Ridek smiled.
"A fine trophy. Worthy of any conqueror."
"You are mated though," Jagar said. "Shirana won't share. Not that it would've stopped you."
"Of course. You've been among the humans for too long. Besides, Shirana is too weak and too preoccupied with the benefits of my prestige to care," Ridek replied. "But let's not talk about females now, I'm sure you've had your fill. Tell me, how do you find the universal translator's decipher of their language?"
"As useful as you have, sire," Jagar said. "However, when I speak, some of our words come out in original form. Some of their words are not translated as well. This is rare in other species."
"That's because some of our words have no direct translation to their language. It is not programmed to make approximations and contexts on meanings," Ridek said. "The same is true for their language. Some of their words cannot be translated because we don't have an equivalent. For example, they have this strange word "love", which does not have any equivalent in our language."
"It must be due to their being a primitive species," Jagar concluded. "A primitive language with primitive concepts goes with it."
"Probably. But even though they are primitive, do not underestimate them. I sense some form of strength in these humans…"
~~~
Trowa woke up from his deep sleep. His vision was hazy, but he could tell that it was already night time. He tried to get up, but a stinging pain shot from his shoulder through the rest of his back. He lay back down, grimacing in pain. He heard someone beside the bed stir.
"Don't move too much, Trowa," she said. "That wound of yours has not healed yet."
"Catherine…" he mumbled. "Where am I?"
"Home…" she replied, placing a wet cloth over his forehead. "At least your fever is beginning to show signs of decreasing."
"How did I get here?" he asked.
"Like you did four years ago," she replied. "I found you outside."
Slowly, memories of what happened began to return to Trowa. He remembered managing to escape pursuing soldiers in the space station. He was barely able to stow away, hiding beneath a large shipment of coffee beans to throw away his scent from the dogs. Once the ship had blasted off, he had to take off his makeshift bandage, which had begun to leak blood again. He managed to make a another makeshift bandage out of cloth from the bundles of clothes in the cargo bay. But the lack of treatment saw the wound eventually become infected. He stumbled out of the cargo hold severely weakened by the lack of food and the growing infection of his wound.
He tried to reach their mountain hideout on L3, but he found the mountain crawling with government soldiers. If he tried for one of the hidden entrances, he could risk tipping off some of the soldiers nearby. He waited in the forest for several days, waiting for the soldiers to give up and leave. But they kept the mountain quarantined. Trowa was worried. He worried that his comrades might get discovered, or that they would starve to death. Most of all, he was worried for her. Midii Une would be bearing the burden of leading a desperate group of cornered guerillas. He feared a mutiny. But his wounds weakened him with impunity.
After waiting for several more days, he felt his resolve go with his body, so he retreated to the circus. His memories didn't go beyond remembering stepping through the circus gate.
"How long have I been out?" he asked.
"Its been six days," Catherine answered. "The doctor said you were lucky. Infection nearly killed you."
"I have to go to them…" he said.
"No, you're staying here!" she admonished. "You have barely recovered. The military is also looking for you. Besides, the Gray Wolves will survive without you." Her voice suddenly hushed down. "But I won't…"
"What did you say?"
"Huh? Nothing…"
Trowa winced as Catherine changed the bandage on his wound. "You'll be in danger if the military finds me here," he said, momentarily ignoring the dull ache on his shoulder.
"Don't underestimate me, Trowa," she said. "I'm not some princess used to the easy life."
"You are innocent of all this," he said. "It wouldn't be fair to you."
"I'd rather have soldiers chasing me…" she said. "…rather than seeing you walk away from me again."
"Catherine…"
"Stop treating me like a child, Trowa," she said. "I'm older than you. I'm no stranger to hardship. Don't look at me as if I'm some weakling in your way."
"You're strong Catherine," he said. He placed his hand over hers. "But I won't forgive myself if something happened to you because of me."
~~~
MP Quatre Winner nearly spewed his tea all over the paper he was reading in front of him. He had been absent during the last Parliament session, so he had an aide deliver to him a summary of what was discussed. What he read had disturbed him.
"Trade gundanium to the aliens?" Quatre read in disbelief. "We could barely synthesize enough for five mobile suits, let alone give some to the Wakari."
Rashid, the lead Maguanac, came up to him. "Sir, she's awake."
Quatre finished the rest of his tea and followed Rashid to the third floor of his mansion. He stopped in front of a large set of double doors. He knocked twice and opened the doors. The room was well-lit, brightened by light-colored flowers and colorful Arabic tapestry. Upon the large canopy bed lay a young girl, bundled up in silken sheets. She saw him, and quickly averted her gaze.
"Good morning, Fatima," Quatre said. "Feeling better today?"
"Go away, father!" she said.
Quatre sighed. Fatima was only six years old, yet she already had her mother's fiery temper and stiff defiance. Quatre had been elected as one of L4's three representatives for the last four years, as well as an interim leader before the formation of the Federation. He married Dorothy Catalonia after the war of 197, a marriage that people thought was arranged to keep Dorothy from getting prosecuted as a war criminal for her crimes during the war of 195. Quatre rightly suspected that in Dorothy's mind, it was. But he took pity on her and tried to love her anyway. It would not last long though. Dorothy died giving birth to a young girl. Quatre found himself shedding tears upon her burial, but he was somewhat gratified as well. Dorothy, long a warmonger, gave her own life so that another innocent one may live.
Despite Quatre's gentle parenting, Fatima ended up more like her mother than like him. His work made him a very busy man as well. The time he could spend with his daughter declined. He sent her to the most prestigious private school on L4 when she was five, and the previous day saw her suspended for fighting with a fellow student. She was sent home to wait out the sentence of five days.
"Honey, is everything ok?" Quatre asked as he sat beside his daughter. "Does the black eye still hurt?"
"No," the young girl replied.
"Would you mind explaining yourself to me?" he asked. "I never raised you to be a bully."
"Its not my fault," she answered in a subtly sarcastic voice. "She ran into my fist."
"Oh, ok," he said, smiling. "Maybe the school just thought it was a fight. I'll go explain tomorrow. You just relax and let those bruises heal."
"Dad!" his daughter cried angrily. "You knew I was making it up! Why don't you get mad? Why don't you even care?"
She buried herself under the sheets, telling Quatre to go away when he tried to coax her out. Giving up, Quatre exited the room.
"Why is she like that, Rashid?" he asked his friend. "I've been caring and nurturing her all her life. Why is she acting like this? She's only six, not sixteen."
"Her birthday was five days ago, sir," Rashid said. "You weren't even home. Then, there was the recital, the school play…"
"It was five days ago?" Quatre asked incredulously. "Ok, I get the point. But isn't this phase supposed to be dormant for another five or so years?"
"Some children grow up so fast nowadays, sir," Rashid said. "Your daughter is very intelligent. Not to question your methods, sir, but I don't think its her fault."
Quatre sighed. "Maybe so, Rashid. Anyway, prepare the shuttle. I'm going to Brussels after a short stopover."
~~~
General Marquise paced back and forth furiously as Lt. Colonel Heero Yuy stood at attention. He waved a newspaper furiously in the air.
"How can this happen?" Zechs asked, slamming the newspaper down on the desk. "Trade gundanium?! This was never explicitly part of the negotiations! And the fact that I had to learn this from the morning news!! What the hell happened to advance intelligence Lt. Col. Yuy!?"
"She never told me, sir," Heero said. "I scanned her documents. Its not even in her diary. I think it was a deal with this Wakari general she never mentioned. If she had, she would have certainly been assassinated. Yet now, she can trade off all the oxygen in the world and the people could care less. Her popularity rating is peaking."
"The wording of the treaty…" Zechs fumed. "It allows for such loopholes. My sister is a fool…"
"My apologies, sir," Heero said. "This shall never happen again."
"Make sure of it," Zechs said. "If we have to save this planet from my sister's idiocy by ourselves, then by God, we will."
~~~
Wufei watched as students loitered around L5SU's campus garden. He adjusted his glasses as he sipped his coffee, noting with disdain the noise and litter the students produced in what would've been a beautiful garden. As he strolled past a rising hillock, he noticed a person sitting on the grass, staring far into the horizon.
"Are you going to miss my class again, Ms. Khrushrenada?" he called out as he walked toward her. The girl turned and looked at him, then scrambled to climb onto her wheelchair.
"No, sir," she said as Wufei stood before her. "I was just…"
"Day dreaming again?" Wufei said with a snort. "You could have saved me a lot of trouble by just dropping out of my course! Class is in ten minutes, and I doubt you'd be getting your butt off the grass within the next hour! I swear, your family line will be the death of me yet…"
Mariemaia turned away as Wufei continued to berate her. "College is not for the weak of mind or the weak of commitment, or for those who are just plain weak! You are a testament to this injustice the university system piles on us scholars and teachers!"
Wufei stopped his tirade when he noticed her shoulders shaking. He felt a a bit of pity, not used to seeing the subjects of his rants break down.
"Stop crying, for goodness sake…" Wufei said, leveling the tone of his voice. "Oh alright, I'll push your chair to class…"
Wufei pushed the Mariemaia's wheel chair slowly down the small hill and towards the main building. While the were walking, Wufei heard her whisper something, before looking up at him.
"What did you say?" he asked.
"I said you don't understand anything…" she replied.
Wufei was about to retort, but he noticed another man coming.
"Ah, Wufei! Good, I managed to catch you before class." Quatre said good- naturedly. "I see you are with Captain Une's adopted daughter."
"What brings you here, old friend?" Wufei asked, a smile on his face.
"Did you read the morning news?"
Wufei shook his head. "I prefer reading the papers after classes."
"Well, let me save you the shock," Quatre said. "Their planning to trade gundanium to the Wakari."
"And what has this have to do with me?" Wufei asked. "Sounds like a fair trade considering how much technology we got."
"But think of it," Quatre said. "Gundanium is stronger than strongest alloys the Wakari have managed to synthesize. They'd trade piddling technologies to get their hands on gundanium, strengthening themselves while neutralizing the only bit of advantage we'd have."
"You speak as if we're going to war," Wufei said. "You're beginning to sound like that fool Zechs. Too idiotically hawkish, even for a man of war like me."
Quatre, seeing that his friend was immovable, tried a different tact. "Sure, let's trade gundanium. I wonder how Nataku would feel if her likeness was cloned by the Wakari?"
Something old in Wufei began to kick in. "Injustice!!! There is only one, and I laid her to rest eight years ago! Do you really think they'd do that?"
"They are a space-faring people, possibly with many enemies. What do you think?"
~~~
"And to what do I owe the honor of this visit?" Relena asked, offering Quatre and Wufei seats in her office. "We do not have any business before us from the Parliament."
"Yes we have, Relena," Quatre said, abandoning formalities of office. "Care to explain that horrid bit of news in the morning papers?"
"I told a reporter about it," Relena said. "Spread like wildfire. Don't worry, I don't think it will cause much harm."
"Gundanium was supposed to be a secret," Quatre said. "You'll end up opening inquiries into the Gundams again. And that is not even half of it. You'd trade a secret we'd never give an outside organization to an alien civilization we barely even know."
Relena turned to Wufei. "You co-authored a particularly favorable report on Wakari civilization, Professor. Do we have anything to fear from the Wakari?"
"No, I have no reason to believe there is such," Wufei said. "But I would heed Quatre's prudence. To trade Gundanium would leave us vulnerable should they decide to make war. The Parliament would end up a Wakari lap dog if we do not have any advantage over them."
"Look at what they gave us," Relena said. "Our ships can now travel light years in the span of a few minutes. And these spaceships are equipped with energy-based shielding. They have improved several of our own weapons systems. If any, they have done more to make us a threat than we would if we traded Gundanium."
"We are a small population compared to them," Quatre responded. "They can easily overwhelm us, and Gundanium will make that a whole lot easier. Besides, you practically handed them the Ministry of Trade. Exclusive rights? We're practically licking their boots."
"The Wakari have no use for bananas, or Earth fish, Quatre," Relena riposted. "I could only get what we got through Gundanium. What else would keep their interest? I did what I had to do. When it comes down to it, we stand on equal terms with them. As for the inquiries into the Gundams, the law will prevent that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do…"
As the two rose to leave, Quatre said, "You know we'll stop this in Parliament. Whether you like it or not."
~~~
AC205 – March 15
"We have 75 yea votes and 250 nay votes," said the Prime Minister as the Parliament wrapped up the voting. "It is decided that the Federation shall not honor the backdoor agreement to trade Gundanium to the Wakari, while honoring all other items as stipulated in the treaty."
Looking through the glass window of a high chamber, the Peacecraft siblings watched the proceedings of the World Parliament. A small smile formed on Zechs' face as he heard the Parliament's decision. He had spoken against his sister's deal before the Parliament earlier, just as his sister spoke for the deal. His victory was clear.
"Looks like you pissed enough people off with this dark business dealings of yours," Zechs said. "I'm surprised they're not trying you for treason."
"They can't," Relena retorted. "What I did was in the best interest of Earth. You and your hawks just ruined it."
"My people worked hard to stop you from selling us off," Zechs answered back. "They're the reason you're not being lynched today. You ought to be grateful."
Zechs drank in the look on his sister's face. "No hard feelings, sister. Besides, I believe it was you who told me that politics is a game with no rights or wrongs. Be a good sport now."
He tapped Heero's shoulder as he walked out, making sure Relena wasn't looking.
"She's going to need you now," he whispered to him. "You know your job."
"Yes, sir."
~~~
As he reached the Parliament building's lobby, Zechs saw his wife waiting for him by the lounge. He walked toward her, hoping to surprise her, but she had turned and noticed him halfway. She dropped the magazine she was reading and ran into his arms.
"Congratulations, honey," she said, kissing him.
"Thanks, Lucrezia," Zechs said. "Did you wait through the entire proceeding? It would've bored you to death. I thought I was supposed to pick you up at the department store."
"If you were going to speak in it, how could it be boring for me?" Lucrezia said.
The couple held hands as they walked out to the parking lot. Zechs noticed the pensive look on Lucrezia's face once again. He felt somewhat concerned.
"Penny for your thoughts?" he said. "What are you thinking about this time?"
"Oh, nothing much," she said. "Its just that, I remember how hard we fought back then. So many battles…before, during and even after the wars. So much was done to protect the secrets behind those conflicts. And now, your sister so easily throws it all into the hands of a foreign species…"
She looked at him. "That's why I'm so happy your side won. Not just because it was a moment of triumph for you, but because it was a moment of triumph for all those who fought in those wars."
When they reached the car, Zechs playfully embraced Lucrezia and pinned her to the door of the vehicle. "I know how to bring that smile back," he said.
"Zechs!" she squealed. "What are you doing? Mmmph…"
Zechs silenced her with a long, passionate kiss. She responded by slowly wrapping her arms around his neck. After a while, they parted briefly, before Zechs began kissing down his wife's neck.
"Stop it…" Lucrezia whimpered, amused. "We're in the middle of an open-air parking lot…"
"So what?" Zechs asked, his voice muffled by his wife's neck. "Nothing wrong with a bit of spontaneity from your stiff general husband. I have battle lust. We can finish in the car…"
"But, people will see us…" she said, smiling contentedly. She made no move to stop him.
"Let them. What are they going to do? Arrest me?"
"Your superior…"
"Let General Anderson and his cow of a wife turn green with envy…"
"Oh, honey…"
~~~
