Chapter 5 - A Moment in Paradise





AC205 - March 16

"Kan Ber'kul, we're being hailed."

"Onscreen," said Ridek, settling down on his command chair.

The large forward window before him flickered to life as an image of Jagar appeared. He looked somewhat agitated.

"Hail to the Dominion, Valor Ber'kul," greeted Jagar. "I bear grim news from the front."

"Go ahead," Ridek said calmly, as if he already knew what tidings Jagar bore.

"The humans have refused to trade Gundanium," Jagar said. "We underestimated their generals. They've managed to convince their governing body to withhold the only resource of significance to us. I suggest we attack full force now. I've already managed to assemble the 450th Fleet and 562nd Fleet. We."

"What about the rest of the treaty?" Ridek asked, interrupting his protégé. "Will they still honor it?"

"Yes, Valor, but."

"Then stop amassing forces immediately," Ridek ordered. "Tell the human emissaries it was just a small military exercise to quell the suspicion you have aroused with your brash actions."

"But the Cor Valor."

"I'll handle them," he said. "This is not the time for bellicose chest- thumping Jagar. We will not attack the humans. Continue on as normal. The treaty still stands."

"I don't understand."

"Its not your job to understand, Kan." Ridek was getting slightly irritated. "Your job is to do what I tell you to do."

"Understood. Mirtrand out."

Ridek turned to his helmsman. "Set a course for Alpha Centauri. Maximum drive."

~~~

Relena was awakened by soft knocking on the door of her hotel room. She had left Earth by herself the night before, leaving only a note to her secretary. She spent the night in a hotel on L2, hoping to spend some time in solitude.

"Who is it?" she asked, slowly getting out of bed. The knocking persisted.

"Alright, I'm coming," she called out as she loosely tied her robe together. "Who would want to disturb me at 9 am? I didn't ask for any room service."

She made her way to the door and fumbled with the panel. Cursing under her breath, she finally worked the door and got it to slide back. But when she saw who had been knocking, she turned beet red.

"H-Heero.?"

She left at the dead of night, when she thought he wouldn't notice. In the note to her secretary, she had ordered that Heero be given the day off. But somehow, he had tracked her down, and was standing under her doorway carrying flowers.

Heero cleared his throat. "Umm.I presume you had a nice night?"

"How did you find me?" she asked. "And I thought I told you to take some time off."

"I did," he replied. "So I came here. These are for you."

She accepted Heero's offering. "Flowers, Heero? I didn't know you could be so corny."

"I thought you liked corny," he said, smiling slightly.

"You know I do," she said, smiling back. She tossed the flowers on to the bed and embraced him.

"I'm glad you found me." she said, laying her head on his chest. "Its been so hard."

"Me too," said Heero, gingerly returning her embrace. "I understand it must be difficult being undermined by people you have trusted, and now refuse to trust you. That is why I am here."

Later, the two of them were sharing a picnic lunch under the shade of a great oak tree, in the middle of one of L2's last expanses of meadowland. It was the last virginal sector of L2, where the rest of its fields were filled with scrap yards and industrial facilities.

"This place is beautiful," Relena said. "But also quite sad. Like the last sanctuary against an invading tide of modernity."

"You have the soul of a poet." Heero said. It sounded rehearsed, and Relena couldn't help but smile.

Heero looked puzzled and turned away. Relena looked back and caught him peeking into a small book.

"What are you reading Heero Yuy?" she asked. He tossed the book as quickly as he can. "Nothing.it was nothing." he said.

Relena knew the title though. She saw it while he was rummaging through his knapsack. It was a copy of "What To Say At the Right Time", a book full of cheesy quotes for every occasion. She had thought he just brought it by mistake. But seeing him use it, she did all she could not to laugh at the poor soldier. After all, he was trying, after so long without practice.

All through lunch, she didn't speak. The quiet had been a blessing. She enjoyed her surroundings, but reveled most in the fact that she didn't feel so alone. Heero lay comfortably on the ground, having finished five sandwiches. His head lay on her lap, his unruly brown hair obscuring his eyes.

"Do you believe I was wrong, Heero?" she asked. "With dealing with the Wakari and all that."

"You were right, just misunderstood." There it was again. Rehearsed. Relena laughed softly. Heero probably memorized the entire book.

"I don't want to hear what a book says," she said. "I want your honest answer."

Heero muttered something about being discovered with the book, but he remained passive, almost asleep. "If it really means that much to you, yes, I do believe you," he said finally.

She couldn't tell that he was lying through his teeth. But his words brought a reassurance that she didn't have in days. The world may be itching to lynch her for treason, but at least she had one ally. She had him. She smiled and kissed his forehead. He didn't react, and a few seconds later, she could hear him snore.

~~~

"So, what happens now?" General Anderson asked General Marquise. The burly commanding general of the entire UFNAF paced the room restlessly. The generals were having a high-level meeting to determine the next course of action in what is known as the War Room. It was a special floor two miles underground, with walls lined with static emitters to nullify bugs and external listening devices. Being so far underground also aided in preventing unwanted listeners. It was also protected from nuclear attack. Not even the anti-matter ordinance of the Wakari cruisers would destroy it in one blow.

"I think we have to prepare our forces," General Marquise said. "The Wakari will wait, but not for long. If they attacked now, we could simply make as inaccessible as possible what little gundanium we have synthesized, and the secret dies with us. They're expecting either to find someone who would leak the secret to them, or wait for us to build up our supply, possibly for war. I suggest we build up our gundanium supply, and do exactly that."

"But why?" Admiral Aramov asked, accompanied by murmurs of the same question from the other military leaders present. "Why play into their plans?"

"Because they will attack us once they get impatient," Zechs answered. "We cannot make our small gundanium supply inaccessible for long. They will be able to synthesize a flawed version of the alloy, since the amount they'll get will allow them to discover some aspects of the process. But that would be enough for them at the moment of impatient need. I do think though that as much as their patience holds out, they will want the pure form. After all, they went through all the trouble to acquire it."

"So, we build our forces for the inevitable attack," General Anderson said. "Then if we do so, it must be extremely secretive. Gundanium must be kept a priority secret. If the Wakari catch wind of a military buildup."

"Then they would build up and launch a preemptive strike once they feel we have enough for them to duplicate," Zechs said. "We must have them think that we don't have enough, and strike while they think we're still sleeping."

"What should be the focus of our buildup?" asked General LeBlanc.

"No doubt, it would be space fleet," said Zechs. "We also have to build up our ground forces, both armored and regular infantry. We need the mechs to fight in space, but we'll fight terrestrial warfare the old-fashioned way."

"We'll also need intelligence," said General Anderson. "We need to field counter-intelligence on all our military buildup sites, lest some bastard decides to make millions on Wakari cash to sell us out. We also need to field a human intelligence team on Alpha Centauri. We need to know what they know and what they think we know."

"I'm all over it," Zechs said, smiling.

~~~

AC205 - March 18

"Vatican III occurred after a hundred years of abuse on the doctrines of the Vatican II." Father Duo said authoritatively, waving his right hand in the air. "It affirmed all the doctrines and dogmas the Church held all along. It was like the Council of Trent.in fact, one liberal Cardinal jokingly referred to it as 'Trent II'. Of course, its because his faction lost, big time!"

"Do you agree with the Council, Father?" one of the older students asked.

"What do you take me for? One of those wannabe-popes who want to ordain women then run off to Acapulco to get hitched?" Father Duo said in mock anger. "Of course I agree with it!"

His reaction generated laughter from his students. Teaching in the RCIA program in his parish was one of Father Duo's priestly joys. All of his students, catechumens preparing for entry into the Church, came from diverse backgrounds. They were all quick-witted and eager to learn, a joyful group that also loved to hear his tall stories. To Father Duo, it was like teaching the Catechism to his kids, only these people were older and smarter.

Father Duo's eye caught someone waving at him from the large main entrance to the church. He lit up when he recognized who it was. He motioned for his assistant to come to the front.

"Sister Martha, take over for me, ok?" he said as he proceeded down the center aisle. "Be back in a minute."

"Hey, Duo!" Relena said as she hugged him. "Long time, no see!"

"Be careful, Relena, people are watching!" Father Duo said jokingly. "They might think I'm flirting again!"

"Ah, so you've been a naughty priest," Relena said, laughing.

"Hey, those women came on to me!" Duo protested. "I didn't do a thing!"

Father Duo noticed Heero come in. "Hey, Heero!! What brings you here? Has Hell frozen over?"

"Relena wanted to come here," Heero muttered.

"Since when does Relena have you on a leash?" Father Duo asked, snickering.

"Where are the kids?" Relena interjected, breaking the banter. "I haven't seen them in a while."

"They're in the rectory, doing chores," Father Duo answered. "You can go up the stairs and through the loft."

Relena went up the stairs, but as Father Duo was about to follow, Heero pulled him aside. "Let's go into the confessional." Heero said.

Father Duo quickly entered the confessor's side and drew the curtain. He peered into the grilled divider. Heero entered on the other side and drew the curtain.

"You know you must be baptized before I can absolve you..." Father Duo whispered. "Since when did you even believe in God?"

"I am not here for the forgiveness of your god, fool!" Heero growled.

"I can't imagine anybody who needs it more," Father Duo said good- naturedly. "So, what is it?"

"High Command has decided to make preparations against the potential Wakari threat," Heero said. "General Marquise is assembling a human intelligence team to head over to Alpha Centauri and spy on Wakari positions and military preparedness. High Command needs the data to plan out the pacing of military build-up."

"And this involves me how?"

"I am giving you a proposition. You are on a very short list." Heero said. "Few people would have the honor of being considered good enough for this job. Zechs' I-Corps is breaking new ground here. And the list is very, very short."

"Are you going?"

"No." Heero sounded begrudged. "My job is to tag Relena. I cannot go. My command is here. So, what'll it be?"

"Give the honor to someone else, old friend," Father Duo replied. "I'm a priest now, not a spy. I left that life behind once I took vows."

"You're clergy." Heero insisted. "It's the perfect cover to take to Alpha Centauri."

"It is not a cover, Heero," Father Duo said. "The Church has missionaries going to Alpha Centauri along with the trading vessels. Choose from them if you will. This is my little corner of Paradise, and believe me, I will not leave what I worked so hard to build. I am no longer a man of war. I am a man of God, and my flock needs me more than your overseers do."

~~~

Trowa Barton hobbled out of the trailer and into the sunshine. He had been bed-ridden for nearly three weeks, and it was torture. Only the constant mothering of Catherine had made the terrible days bearable. But now he was strong enough to go outside.

"Ah.Brother Sun, its been so long." Trowa mumbled to himself. The soft breeze was also a welcome change. The fresh smell of the L3 spring filled his nostrils. ".like Lazarus."

"What are you doing out?" a soft voice called out from behind him. He smiled and turned.

Catherine came up to his side, bearing a yellow spring blossom. "I brought you this. I thought it would cheer you up in the dark of your trailer, but I suppose it does not look any less cheerful out here in the sun."

"There are good places for things of beauty," he said as he accepted the flower. He then brushed the stray locks from Catherine's face and fixed the blossom into her hair. "See? Now it looks much better in the right place."

"You're in a good mood today," she said, smiling. "How do you feel?"

"Like a man back from the dead," he replied. He took a deep breath, then crooked his elbow. "Would the lady care to join me for a walk?"

"You're unusually talkative today," she said as she took his arm. He smiled.

"I barely said anything beyond a groan for more than two weeks," he said. "I need to hear my own voice again."

They walked around the circus premises. Trowa absorbed the sights and sounds of the outside world, feeling as if everything was brand new. In all his years as a mercenary, he rarely stopped to take in anything. He had to keep on moving to survive. But now, he had survived and cheated death by a hair's margin. And he was safe. There was no better time for him to catch up on things taken for granted.

As they walked past the animal cages, Catherine tugged at his arm. "I almost forgot," she said. "I have a surprise for you."

She led him to the bathing grounds, where the elephants were now being washed. She then pointed to two women bathing the largest elephant. One had short blue hair, and was training a hose at the elephant's back side. The other was scrubbing the elephant's side. Her back was to him, and she wore a bandanna. But he could catch a glimpse of her golden hear peeking out from underneath the cloth.

Trowa could barely contain himself. But as he was about to call out her name, she noticed him and motioned for him to keep silent. She dropped her brush and walked casually towards the two of them. She stopped at talking distance and subtly checked if they were out of earshot.

"Better be more careful, Trowa," Midii Une said. "Spies may be watching. You ought to know better. To you, I must seem like a newly-hired worker."

"I'm sorry." he said. "My injuries have taken their toll."

She smiled. "Welcome back, Trowa."

~~~

Quatre jumped to the side to avoid the swift thrust of his opponent's foil. Then, with a quick jerk of his sword, knocked the opposing foil right out of his opponent's hands.

"You're getting good," he said to his sparring partner. He may have been holding a lot back, but he was impressed nonetheless. "You could become as good as your mother was."

"Whatever, Dad," Fatima said, pulling off her fencing mask and throwing it to the side. She sat on the floor, leaning on the wall of the spacious dojo. Quatre pulled off his mask and sat beside her.

"Anything bothering you, dear?" he asked, running his hand through her bright blonde hair. She was only seven, and yet she was already showing shades of Dorothy, though she inherited his hair and eyebrows. She was physically and intellectually gifted, but Quatre feared she was growing up too fast.

"Nothing," she answered. "I just don't want to be here."

"Why? Don't want to spend time with your old man?"

"Why should I want to?" she shot back. "You're just going to leave tomorrow."

Quatre felt guilty. There was to be an urgent budget hearing in Parliament in three days, so he planned to leave the next day.

"I'd rather just go shopping with Rashid," she said. "At least he'll be here while you go to your precious job. Its what you want me to do anyway."

"I'm sorry, honey," he said, pulling his daughter close. "You know.when we fought during the war.I lost a lot of friends. I also lost my father. Before that, I was so busy being a Gundam pilot, I had forgotten how to be a son, or how to be a brother. Now, I don't want to think that I am forgetting how to be a father."

"Dad."

"If ever there is one thing you ever learn from me." he said, looking at her. For a moment, he saw Dorothy again. ".I hope you learn not to take things for granted. You are still a child.don't be like me.not yet.please."

"Dad, I don't understand."

Quatre kissed her forehead. "No need to.I love you, honey."

~~~

As the early evening set in, Wufei sipped his coffee and relaxed in his favorite café. He was the only costumer out in the sidewalk tables, and the solitude was a comfort. He unfolded his newspaper and went right to the Editorial section. There, he found a chorus of opinion writers on a feeding frenzy. Relena had been politically lynched.

As he was reading, he felt someone take the seat across his table. He thought it was another one of his students come to plead for his or her grades. "You're wasting your time! I don't do charity cases," he said, irritated.

"Is that any way to greet an old friend?"

Wufei lowered his newspaper and raised an eyebrow. "Well, if it isn't Sally Po." He turned his attention back to the newspaper. "So, how long is your shore leave, sailor?"

Wufei had not been surprised. He was told by one of his colleagues that the FSV Akula, the science vessel Sally had been stationed in, had just docked into L5. It was only a matter of time before she'd find him. Not that he had cared. He preferred having Sally Po a million miles away. Especially after what she did to him.

The day after he received his tenure as a professor, he had asked Sally to marry him. She told him that she loved her work with Space Fleet, and that a marriage with a man already settled into civilian life would be a great strain on her. Then, she left him there, all alone. He had a right to be angry, and he made plenty of justifications as to why he should never have even considered asking. She would never have said yes. She was to self- centered. He had better things to do in life. She wasn't wife material. She wasn't even fully Chinese. But the most compelling reason he came up with was that he had nearly betrayed his late wife, Meiran. And with that, he tried to eliminate that event from his field of memory. But whenever she returned, she brought the old devils with her.

"I only have about a week." she replied. "But I won't be going back to the Akula. I got a new assignment."

"Lovely." Wufei said, sounding bored. "Now if there is nothing else."

"Aww, c'mon Wuffy!" she said, grabbing his arm playfully. "Show me around town!"

"Do not bedevil me, woman!" he said, wrenching his arm away. "You have been coming here every three months. You know your way around."

"Is this about that 'thing' again?" Sally asked. She let out a sigh. "Haven't we talked about it a million times?"

"Apparently, not enough." Wufei snarled. "You're still here."

"Fine." she said, crossing her arms. "But let me say this, I have been coming here every three months since I became a regular on the Akula, and every time, you avoided me. You know what its like, spending three months with drunken crewmen and their whores? With this new assignment, I will not be back in three months, or even a year! Damn it, Wufei, this is may be the last time I set foot on colony ground in a long time, and I just thought it would've been pleasant to spend it with you! Apparently, I was wrong about that."

Somehow, Wufei began to feel guilty. Damn this woman and her strings, he thought. This time, he grabbed her arm as she stood up.

"What's this new assignment that's going to keep you away for so long?" he asked. Sally sat down again.

"They're making me part of a human intelligence team headed for Alpha Centauri," she said. "I and two others will be guised as crew of a small, state-of-the-art science vessel, the FSV Parson. We are to act as a data conduit, relaying information the ground team gathers back to UFNAF High Command."

"Preventer Redux." he said. "Spying on the Wakari, e?"

"Yeah."

"So, what do you want to do now?" he asked, tapping his fingers.

"But I thought."

"Do you want to go out or not?" he said, slightly irritated. But her face lit up as she practically dragged Wufei to the street.

~~~

Zechs woke with a start. He rubbed his eyes, and as his vision cleared he saw his wife sitting beside him. He checked his watch. It was already 9 in the evening.

"You fell asleep while reading the evening news," Lucrezia said. "You look like a mess. You haven't been home in three days. Mind telling me what's wrong?"

"Nothing, love, just a busy week," he replied.

"Don't lie to me, Zechs," she demanded. "I didn't have to go through sleeping in an empty bed for three days and going through seeing you come home like a wreck for nothing. And, not only that, I heard you and the rest of your general friends are to be the subject of a budget hearing. What's going on?"

Zechs looked at his wife. A determined look was set on her pretty face. He didn't want to keep secrets from her. It was one of the important aspects of their marriage. Besides, now he felt he could trust her with the secret. "We're going to prepare for war, honey. I've just gone through the logistics of sending a covert human intelligence team to Alpha Centauri. Planning for it is much more hellish than planning to spy on another country."

"Another war." she said, her voice almost a whisper. "We've just been through hell eight years ago.our generation has known only eight years of peace. Its too short a time to be in where we are now."

"It's basic Sun Tzu, one cannot live in peace without preparing for war," he said, trying to ease her fear. "I did not want this path, but we have been put on it. The Wakari are a dangerous people. I pray that we would not come to war.but if it comes to that, we must face the fight for survival. We did not choose where we are, or the times we are born in. That is not for us to decide. What is left for us is to make the most of what time is given to us. And at this time, it is having to deal with the specter of another war."

Zechs felt her lay her head on his chest. He protectively wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him.

"Honey.I'm scared," she said. "For us.for our future children.if it was just me, I'd be glad to fight again. But now, I live for more than myself.I live for the people I love. And the prospect of losing those people frightens me. Especially the thought of losing you to another war. I've already lost enough on my own.but to lose the reason for which my heart now beats.I suppose it really is harder to be the wife who has to see her husband fight."

"I'm not going off to the killing fields just yet. We're not even sure if there will be a war," he said, trying to reassure her. "Don't worry, we'll get past this. We will win through, no matter the cost to be paid. We'll survive."

"How do you know?" she asked. "The enemy is strong."

Zechs pointed to a statue of the Virgin Mary standing on a pedestal in their living room. She was depicted as a beautiful, slender woman veiled in stars, with a rosary hanging over her clasped hands and a gigantic serpent twice her size writhing under her feet. It was a token, once owned by a South American drug lord that fell to Army soldiers. It was given to him as a gift upon his promotion, and he had prominently displayed it ever since.

"How did she know things were going to be alright after she said 'yes' to God's outrageous requests?" he said. "Faith."