Fuzziness invaded his head, and he could only barely make out the two figures standing in front of him, backs to him.
Who is it? He asked himself, hoping to regain some clarity. His mind only came up with one answer, Pirates. A smaller, more independent part of his brain deducted that they must have known something about him, as the drug that they gave him was stronger and in a larger dose than a normal man would be given. It had taken him hours to return to consciousness, at least consciousness enough to have an inner monologue. He had no idea how long he had been in his drug-induced coma.
The ears of the guards must have been sharp, because one of them turned as his breathing pattern changed. Possibly that was why he was there. If Heero started to show signs of overdose, only someone with sharp ears would notice.
"Awake, is he?" the other shouted, whirling. This one was larger, with breath that stank of meat. The other was smaller, with a thin body. He said nothing, but peeled back one of Heero's eyelids and investigated his pupil.
"Hmph." The larger one said, "Let's just put him under again."
The smaller one nodded and pulled out a large syringe.
Heero felt a pinching in his arm, and then no more.
Gundam Wing: Star's End
Chapter Four: Gundam Pilot Things
The inside of the ship was darkened and enclosed, more so than normally. Relena had to duck her head down to get into the doorway. Duo breathed deeply as he shut the door behind him.
"Good old recycled air… Can't hardly wait to get back to it…" he said, with exaggerated sniff.
"You dolt." Hilde said, "The air in the colony was recycled, too."
"Hm." Duo sneered, "Just like you to not understand…"
"Let me guess… Another 'Gundam Pilot thing'?" Hilde sneered.
Relena hunched her shoulders subconsciously. The hallway's ceiling was tall enough to accommodate even the tallest of people, but the lighting and décor were such as to create the illusion that the she was merely inches away from bumping her head against the ceiling.
"Oh, that.." Hilde said, noticing her stance, "Yeah, it takes a bit to get used to. It's another 'Gundam Pilot Thing'. When they asked Heero and Duo what environment they'd be most comfortable with, the psychs came up with this. They figured that it would be less likely for them to suffer long-term agoraphobia, since they'd be on this ship for months at a time."
"Did you ever get agoraphobic before?" Relena said, standing up straighter. Now that she knew she was doing it, she wanted to prevent a sore neck.
Duo shrugged, "I must have. I never paid attention to it before. I would get a teeny dizzy feeling when I looked up at the night sky on earth. I can see how a long time in an environment like that would make you sick after a while. I still think that this is unnecessary. But Heero seemed to be pretty comfortable."
"I think it's him they were thinking of in the first place," Hilde said.
Relena nodded, and pressed her hands to a door which seemed to have come up to her in the dimness.
"Oh!" Duo said, "Here, I'll key it to your hand." He pressed his palm on the pad and keyed in a complicated pattern of commands.
He stepped back, "There now, all you have to do is press your hand up there and you're good to go."
Pressing her hand to the key pad, Relena felt a moment of heat on her palm and then heard a pinging sound.
"There, now." Hilde said, "It's pressure sensitive, so you have to push hard."
Relena pressed her hand up to the pad again, and the door whooshed open. She stepped onto the deck, smiling at the spread of stars on the screen before her. She studied the capsule that had been set into the deck where the captain's chair would be.
"Gundam Pilot Thing…" Hilde said, "Heero honestly COULD NOT pilot the ship without the controls being in a cabin like that." She shrugged, "I dunno, it could be that he just didn't want to. You can never tell with that one." there was a moment of guilt over her face, a guilt mixed with a sadness.
Duo, noticing Hilde's mood, changed the subject, "I probably could have piloted it without the capsule, but its so much more comfortable in there, like, I dunno, the womb."
"The womb?" Hilde said, "Oh, please, Duo, never try to be poetic!" she started to laugh.
Relena smiled secretively. She envied their ease with each other, and the way that it seemed like they got along. She could even predict where Heero would stand in this interpersonal relationship. Permanent straight man. She smiled at the thought.
"So, how would you like to see your room?" Duo said.
"My room?" Relena asked.
"Sure, your room. Heero was the one who, pretty much made the specs for this entire ship. I mean, he told them what to make. The two luxury suites were designed by him, too. He calls the girlier one, y'know, the one with all the frills and lace and crap, the Relena room. The masculine one he calls the Odin room, but I don't know why." Duo shrugged, "Another weird Heero thing."
Relena smiled. It hadn't seemed like Heero would be the type to give nicknames like that, but Quatre had said he was changed. Relena allowed herself to be led to the room, thinking about the last time she saw Heero.
It had been about ten months ago, she thought. He had been on earth, awaiting the completion of the ship she was now within. It was the anniversary of that attempted coup. The Earth was celebrating Christmas, but Relena was not.
"Please get these forms to the Secretary of the Treasury. I have to attend to some important business.." Relena had said briskly, handing the stack of papers to a courier. She would have normally delivered them herself, it gave her dealings a more personal touch, but there was yet the third reworking of the Peace Treaty to take care of. An open forum was to take place in less than a week, and she needed to be ready.
She read the treaty over again, for what was perhaps the thousandth time, but this time her eyes didn't seem to be able to comprehend the text. She hadn't been getting any sleep.
She put the sheaf of papers down and sighed, "I should try to requisition some time to sleep…" she said to herself. It was at times like this that her thoughts strayed. She wondered how all of her friends were doing, those Pilots. Especially… "Heero…" she muttered to herself.
"Yes?" said a voice that seemed too familiar to be believed.
"Heero!" she said, her heart skipping a beat. With surprise, of course, but also relief, excitement. "How in the world did you get in here?" she asked.
Heero shrugged, "It was difficult."
"I can imagine…" she said, smoothing back her hair.
Heero sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk, looking at her with his piercing eyes.
Relena was flustered, "Well, I know I told you to come see me every so often, but that doesn't mean you should do so without notice.." she said. Then she smiled, "But I'm glad you're here."
Heero covered his mouth with his hand, "I'm waiting for my ship to be finished." he said shortly.
"Is that so?" Relena asked, "And then you're off into space." She looked out the large windows into the night sky, "You're lucky…" she said, distantly.
"You've been there." he had said.
"Yes, but not of my own volition. I have to go, and I never get to go where I want." she sighed again, "Maybe someday I'll visit you out there, Heero.." she said with a smile.
"Probably not." Heero said.
She smiled wryly, "You're right. But it's nice to dream anyway.." She gazed out at the stars once more, not realizing when the blackness of the sky became her own.
When she woke up, she was lying on the couch, covered by a thin blanket. She sat up, surprised. Underneath the fingers which she grasped the blanket with was a note written in a thin, italic scrawl. Next time, don't fall asleep
She looked out into the room, "Don't come when I'm so tired, next time…" she said to no one.
Relena smiled at the memory. Every visit from Heero seemed to be like that one. Of course, he always came when she was at her most put-upon, the weariest, the most run down. She invariably dozed off, sometimes as she was talking. It was very relaxing for her, to be in his presence.
They had reached the room, and Relena smiled. It was a blue scheme, with a flowered bedspread, and upon the bed was a little teddy bear with a blue ribbon around its neck. Heero seemed to be fond of teddy bears.
"I always got the feeling he was keeping it nice, in case you ever decided to come around." Duo said, in his unpretentious manner.
Hilde grinned from behind him, "Actually, he would make this bed all by himself, every time. Wouldn't let anyone else do it." she said.
Relena was struck by a question, "Were you three the only people running this ship?" she asked, curious.
"Noo!" Duo said, "We've got a couple of Engineers around here too, but they're off this month. We trade off, you know, three months with them, one month without 'em. We don't get any time off, really, but it's not like it's hard work."
"I can deal with the normal problems with the ship that crop up every so often, and Duo can pilot. We feel a bit short-handed without Heero, and having the Engineers gone isn't helping, but we can't call them back." Hilde said, "It's really quiet now."
"That's, of course, without the Engineers. Heero doesn't usually say much, even when he is here." Duo added.
Relena nodded. She would have liked to ask them more about Heero, after all, they spent a long time in close quarters with him, but she was interrupted by a klaxon.
"Oh, damn…" said Hilde, rocketing back to the deck.
"She's in charge of the communications." Duo said with a wry grin, "Heero and I just can't seem to keep our mouths shut."
Relena smiled faintly at the joke.
"Maybe it's just me…" Duo said, shrugging.
It was just him, but Relena wasn't necessarily in the mood for jokes, she made her way back to the deck.
"…Is that right?" Hilde was saying, excited. She put the speaker down, turning to Duo, "It's Quatre, he's giving us permission to launch, and he has information on the pirate's location!" she shouted.
"What are you waiting for, put him onscreen!" Duo shouted.
Hilde nodded, and keyed in a set of instructions.
Quatre's face appeared on the screen, "Ah!" he said, surprised, "Oh, Ok. All right, the pirates who we believe have Heero had set themselves up around Mercury, but the heat of the area has become too much for them. They've been on the move for three days without us knowing about it, and now they're about halfway from Venus to Earth." Quatre said, "They're probably going to try to send a ransom notice down to Relena, because they don't know yet that she's not there."
"So, you think we should try and catch them out in space?" Duo asked.
"No, that's practically impossible," Quatre said, "We know that the pirates have operatives on Moon base beta, so you should head for there. That way, you can surprise them."
"Moon base BETA?" Duo said, "I don't know… Don't you think it's likely to be their base? There's not much work done around there anymore…" He flicked a nervous eye over to Relena.
Quatre nodded, "It could be, so I suggest you exercise extreme caution around there."
"Got it!" Duo said, his smile daring.
Quatre's image seemed to face Relena, "Now, Relena, I want you to think about this. Don't let this guy pull you into anything that's too dangerous."
"Hey!" shouted Duo, but Quatre ignored him.
"You're a diplomat, I think you understand subtlety. Remember, we all trust you not to get yourself killed in this mission." Quatre said, by way of a warning.
"Of course not!" Relena said, though a rock seemed to have dropped into the pit of her stomach. She had forgotten the dangers of this mission, almost altogether, in her lust to get free of bureaucracy.
"Over and out." Quatre said.
"Mission accepted." Duo said, and Hilde closed the comm.
Duo turned to Hilde, his face serious, "So, are we off then?"
Hilde smiled at him, "Ready to roll.." she said, and they jumped into action. Duo opened the hatch to the captain's capsule, and Hilde put her comm. mike back on and began conversing rapidly in shorthand with what seemed to be air control.
Relena felt out of place. It was one thing to be in her brother's ship, where everything was relaxed and without protocol, but this seemed like uncharacteristic businesslike behavior for the two of them, and Relena began to feel superfluous.
"You'd better strap in." Hilde said, pointing to one of the plush chairs near the panels, "This thing gets pretty extreme sometimes."
"Oh, right." Relena said, "Of course." She sat down in the chair, and strapped herself in with the many belts.
A picture came up on the screen, "Hey, finally got it to work. This thing's been screwing up lately," Duo said, in what was obviously a link from the captain's compartment, "Hey Relena. Our Engineers got weirded out by a Captain who was just a disembodied voice, so we put this thing in. It doesn't really work well all the time, but it can be handy. Unfortunately, it means I can't just pretend like I'm listening when Hilde talks to me."
"Oh, you do that anyway…" Hilde said, flipping a hand at the screen, while she studied the console before her.
"Too true. Anyway, what's the good word?" he asked jovially.
"We have clearance, and we're launching in fifteen seconds." she keyed it in, her hands flying over the keys.
"Ok…" Duo said, "Here we go!" he pushed a lever forward, and the engines began to vibrate madly. Relena felt like the ship was going to come apart.
Hilde, noticing again her distress, smiled, "Don't worry about that, it's another Gundam Pilot thing. MS pilot compartments are so close to the engines powering the things, that it's like living in a blender set on low. Duo didn't think the ship was moving unless the engines were vibrating, so he asked them to make the pilot compartment resonate with the engines. That way, he can regulate it better."
"Oh.." Relena said, "Being an MS pilot must be more affecting than I had thought."
"You bet it is…" Hilde said, a dreamy look on her face, "I almost wish we could've kept them around." She stopped for a moment, seeming embarrassed, "Not for fighting, or anything, but… You know, they always seemed to me to just be these beautiful, graceful ships. It's sort of like, dancing through space. You know?"
Relena didn't know, but she thought she would have liked to, so she nodded.
"OK! 2… 1… LAUNCH!" Duo said.
The ships vibration hit a fever pitch, and then the pressure of the burst of speed plastered Relena to her seat. It died down quickly because they were launching from an airlock, and not through atmosphere.
Relena groaned, "Lord…" she muttered.
"Well, it's only really annoying when the ship launches, or we're going through atmosphere. The Engineers like to stay in bed for the launches…" Hilde said, keying in coordinates with her other hand.
"So, finally on our way, are we?" Duo said, seeming as relaxed as ever.
"Let's get Heero and get outta there!" Hilde said.
"Right!" Duo said with a daring grin.
Relena felt once again left out. She wondered if Heero ever felt that way as well, but they probably went out of their way to keep him in the loop. They did have to live with him after all. She wanted, almost desperately, to ask about Heero, how he acted, what he said… If he ever talked about her. But she felt it would be rude, so she kept her mouth shut.
Duo's image turned to her, "How 'bout you, Relena? You ready for a crazy adventure?" he asked.
"I hope not too crazy…" Relena said, cracking a smile. It was honestly quite hard to be worried when Duo was around.
"Are you kidding? It would be a drag if it weren't insane enough!" Duo replied, laughing.
Relena smiled, putting out of her mind the dangers of this adventure, too very pleased to know that she would soon have something to talk about with the pilots. She had always envied their nostalgic war stories, and she would soon have one of her own to tell. She looked out the window at the river of stars they were swimming within and thought yet again about Heero.
Millions of miles away, Heero was thinking of her. His dream-fever had just abated once more, and the first image that he saw behind his eyelids was her face. Without thinking about it, he slowed his heartbeat, and continued his deep, comatose breathing.
Voices faded into his hearing, "…don't even know why we'd kidnap the stupid Gundam pilot. S'not as if he's worth anything anymore. Just like us old soldiers, huh? He got nothing going for him anymore, but his old war stories."
There was silence at the other end, then a sound of shifting of clothes.
"They don't tell us nothin' down here. Hell, I don't even know this bastard's name." Heero recognized the voice as that of the larger guard who was watching over him. Either he hadn't been asleep as long as he had thought, or they weren't changing shifts of guards. Heero decided slowly that it was probably the latter, which he understood. The fewer people knew where he was and what he looked like, the less dangerous it was. He knew that these roaming pirate bands were usually made up of all sorts, Alliance Soldiers, OZ soldiers, even civilians. As such it was probably difficult to keep everyone on the same page, as it were.
This was all reasoned out in Heero's head over a span of probably five minutes. The drugs were still affecting him, and because of his breathing patterns, not much oxygen was getting to his brain. It was becoming less bearable by the second. Without his volition, he took a deep gasp of breath.
There was the sound of a person standing up very quickly.
"Ah, is he up again?" the guard said, "Good."
Heavy footsteps approached him, and rough hands forced his eyelids open, "Seems like he's good to go, now. We can try to interrogate him. Hey, you. I'm Dench and this is my pal Lee. We're going to interrogate you."
Heero attempted to form words, though he was still only just conscious, "Won't… tell you… anything…" he said, sounding like a child whose mother was attempting to wake him. The man let go of his eyes, and he blinked slowly, allowing his vision to clear. They were still backlit, so he could only see two shapes, one hulking and one slim.
"We'll see about that." Dench said with relish, "See, we've got us some fun stuff here… Sodium Pentahydrate, you know. I'm sure you know what that is…"
He did, it was what was commonly known as truth serum. Under normal circumstances he could definitely fight it off, but he didn't know what the drugs that were already in him would do to his resistance. But he said nothing.
"OK, Lee. Give it to him." the other soldier said, his voice hungry.
Heero felt the needle enter his skin, and braced himself for the onset of the drug.
TO BE CONTINUED
