Earth, Cinq Kingdom
"I'll take another glass of champagne." Trynity watched as the sparkling wine poured into the delicate crystal glass, then tipped it until she heard the musical clink of glass to glass. "To us." She drained the glass and set it aside, then drew up her legs and wrapped her arms around her knees. As she watched the glistening waves in the moonlight, she dug her bare toes into the sand. The warm water surged forward, almost reaching her.
"Hey, babe, you're going to get wet. The tide is coming in."
"I like the water," she mumbled.
"I do too, but not that much," he grumbled in return.
Trynity turned her head and smiled. "I think I can get you to like it, Duo Maxwell." Before he could respond, she lunged at him and knocked him on his back.
"Damn it, Trynity, I'm getting sand in my hair!" But he had no chance to complain further as she started kissing him, and soon enough he had forgotten about the tide rolling in and the sand in his hair. Before they were done, there was sand everywhere and wet, sticky seawater.
She rested her head on his bare chest, wondering why he was still so bony after eating every morsel of food he could get his hands on day after day. The cadence of his heart was comforting, so she put her arms around him. Trynity would doze just a few seconds. Although she knew that closing her eyes could be dangerous, she tightened her grip on him. All she needed was just a couple of seconds of rest to clear her head. He would still be there when she awoke.
"Mom!"
Her eyes jerked open, and she found herself face down in the wet sand, and the water was already up to her waist as she lay on the beach. Trynity shook her head and tried to sit up, but her clothing was soaked and heavy, and for some reason she couldn't move very fast. The beach was spinning around her. Was she sick? As if in answer, her stomach heaved, and she emptied it on the beach.
"Hey, mom, are you okay?"
Trynity blinked and raised her head to see a tall young man she did not at first recognize in the moonlight. She wiped her mouth with a trembling hand and sat back in the sloppy rising tide. "I'm fine. I think I must have swallowed some seawater while I was sleeping."
She heard a snort, which she had no trouble recognizing and Trynity felt ashamed.
"Stryfe, go back and get a towel. I'll help your mother."
"You sure, gramps? I can stay and help…"
"Go get a towel," snapped Ivan Stryfe. He didn't speak again until the young man had disappeared, then he clucked his tongue as he reached down to pick up a bottle of champagne. He tipped it upside down and nothing came out. "Sea water?"
"Leave me alone." She twisted away to stare up at the moon. "That's all I will ever be now. Alone."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Her father took off his own jacket and draped it over her shoulders. "You will never be alone, pumpkin." When she didn't respond, he sighed. "I hoped you had put this behind you."
Hot tears gathered in her eyes and made her view of the moon blurry. "How can I? Father, you once told me you were sure that he was meant to walk the path of life with me! You didn't tell me that there would be a fork in the road! Why did he take a different path?" Trynity would have enjoyed a good cry, but she could hear her son returning, and she didn't want to explain herself to him.
Her father gently pulled her to her feet and put his arms around her. Putting his fingers under her chin, he tilted her face up so that she was looking at him. "Trynity, have you given up hope that the paths might one day cross again?"
Tears spilled over her eyelashes and rolled down her cheeks as she nodded.
He wiped away the tears with his fingers. "Good! Then you can move forward, pumpkin."
How could Trynity ever explain to Ivan Stryfe how she felt? The love of her life was gone forever. She had struggled to make her marriage to Lars Nelson work, and she had grown to love him, but not as he had loved her. She had come so very close, but part of her heart was locked away forever. Lars had understood and accepted that he could not replace Duo Maxwell. He never tried. Lars had even wanted to tell Stryfe and Quynn who their real father was, but Trynity never wanted them to know. Lars was a good father and should always be remembered as so forever. If he hadn't been killed on a routine shuttle mission between Mars and Colony L12, Trynity wouldn't be sitting on this beach alone getting drunk.
Why had she returned to Earth anyway? She knew already that it was a wasted, pointless trip. And she should have stayed at a hotel, not at Seaside Lab with her son and father. The memories were too painful.
"Here's a towel, mom. Good thing we decided to look for you or you might have washed away with the tide." Stryfe – his actual name was Ivan for his grandfather, but they had always called him Dr. Stryfe as an amusing joke before shortening it to Stryfe – rubbed her wet hair with the towel. Trynity didn't really appreciate the jarring. She had to clench her teeth to keep from vomiting again.
"That's enough, Stryfe," scolded her father.
The younger man chuckled. "I thought she should suffer a little more for falling asleep and drinking in sea water." Stryfe lowered his head until his forehead was resting against hers. "Really, mom, couldn't you come up with a better story than that? I've told gramps some better ones to cover up for some of my escapades. I thought you would be more creative."
"I would have thought Drivel would have told you just how uncreative I was," she muttered, referring to the teacher at the academy who had made life miserable for her.
Stryfe snickered. "There wasn't a day that went by that she didn't remind me."
Her head was spinning. "That bitch!" She looked at her father. "Father, I thought you were going to watch out for his behavior! What is this about "stories"?"
Ivan Stryfe snorted. "He's lying. Your son is a lot better behaved than you ever were. Now, let's get you off to bed to sleep off your seasickness."
The following morning when Trynity woke up, her head was pounding, and the light from the window was too bright. She was itchy from the dried sea water, so she dragged herself to her shower where she stood under the hot spray for what seemed like an hour before she regretfully left when she heard buzzing at her door.
Pulling on a bathrobe, she checked before opening the door to Stryfe who was holding a mug of steaming coffee. Several of the other young men staying at Seaside lab to complete pilot training stood in the hall gawking, but she quickly shut the door behind her son.
"Don't they have anything better to do?" she complained as she took the mug and crossed the room to the window where she could look out over the beach. Sipping the hot liquid, she realized how much she missed the blue sky and white-capped waves crashing against the rocky shoreline in the distance. Earth really was a beautiful place that no amount of engineering could copy.
"Give them a break, mom. Maybe it's your red hair. I can't think of a single girl who has hair like yours, and I've done a lot of research."
She raised a brow at him. "Taking up your father's torch?"
"No harm in a little fun." Stryfe rubbed his hands together. "Graduation tomorrow! Then I'm off to L12 to do more research."
Trynity drained her cup. "God save the Cinq Kingdom if you're at the top of the pilot training class."
Stryfe laughed as he headed to the door where he stopped. "Gramps wanted me to remind you that your meeting at the palace is in less than an hour."
"Damn!" Trynity didn't waste anymore time dawdling at the window. She quickly dressed in a gray silk suit with a skirt of a respectable length. Too bad for the boys who followed her to the kitchen where she grabbed a bagel quickly produced along with several offers to drive her to the palace. The young pilots were like a pack of salivating wolves, and she was glad to finally be away from them as she sped away behind the wheel of her son's sports car on the road to the palace.
This meeting was important, and she couldn't slip up. Too many people were depending on her at the Mars Colony. If she failed in this mission, she did not know where she would turn for help. Because she had an appointment, she was quickly ushered to the salon outside the king's office. Miliardo Peacecraft didn't see anyone except by appointment, so she wasn't forced to make polite conversation. Instead, she paced nervously, ignoring the curious glances from the king's secretary.
Finally, the door opened, and Colonel Benton appeared. "Dr. Nelson, the king will see you now."
"So formal," she muttered to Benton as she came even with him at the door. "This is not a good sign."
He didn't answer, but she saw by the look in his eyes that her mission was doomed. Inside she was surprised to see Heero Yuy. Relena hadn't told her that he would be going to Earth. Heero's eyes met hers briefly before he looked away. Another bad sign! Then she noticed the worst sign of all. Quatre Raberba Winner was standing by the window, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched her enter. He looked far too smug. Damn, she wished she had a gun!
A throat cleared, and she tore her gaze from Quatre and turned to Benton who was standing with the king. Miliardo Peacecraft came forward to take her hands, then kiss her cheeks. As far as she was concerned, they were the greetings of a betrayer. "I haven't seen you in many years, Trynity, although Stryfe and Quynn have been frequent visitors in my home. They are very good children. You must be proud as I am sure Lars was."
She took her hands from his. "I didn't come here to socialize, Your Excellency."
Miliardo sighed. "I know that."
"Good, then I will get to the point. I have come here to ask you to send some troops to the Mars colony to maintain some control. There is a primitive lawlessness on that planet that no one should have to live amongst in this day and age." Trynity took a breath and tried not to look at Quatre, but she couldn't resist and saw that he was smirking. Bastard!
"I have been thoroughly informed of the situation on Mars," said Miliardo as he took his seat behind the desk. "But when the terra-forming began, all nations agreed to let Mars form on its own independently."
"I doubt whether you all considered the fact that bandits and…. And…" she couldn't stop from looking at Quatre, "opportunists would take over the colony. Decent people cannot live there!"
"It is true," spoke up Heero, "that L10, L11 and L12 have had an influx of refugees from the Mars colony."
"Nothing you can't handle?" Miliardo asked Heero, his governor for that quadrant of space. All three colonies were under Heero's jurisdiction, and he was answerable to the king.
"They are peaceful enough."
"Exactly!" exclaimed Trynity. "The people who chose to settle on Mars are peaceful, having lived under your rule for many years. They do not want to fight, and many do not even know how! The bandits terrorize them daily. If that were not bad enough, they are forced to pay exorbitant prices for necessities, just so some rich bastard can get richer."
"I might take offense to that, Dr. Nelson," remarked Quatre nonchalantly.
She spun to look at him. "You should! I was talking about you and the Winner Foundation!"
Quatre crossed his arms over his chest. "I have done nothing illegal."
Trynity turned back to the king. "Because of his monopoly on trade, the people have to pay ridiculous prices just to survive."
"Perhaps I should remind Dr. Nelson that the Winner Foundation was instrumental in terra-forming Mars. Without the necessary capital, Mars would still be a frozen rock."
"Without my father's research, Mars would be a frozen rock," she reminded them.
"Regardless," said Quatre with a shrug, "research is nothing without funds to back it. I believe that particular research was also funded by the Winner Foundation. How do you pay me back? With smuggling!"
Trynity gritted her teeth as she glared at him. Quatre met her glare for a moment before his blue eyes drifted lower over her body before he continued, now turning to appeal to the king. "Only authorized traders are allowed to bring goods to Mars Colony. This is standard practice until free trade can be set up. Those companies need to be assured of a market or they would not consider Mars at all. Her husband was smuggling goods onto the planet without license."
"Did your people shoot him down?" she demanded furiously, daring the voice her suspicion.
Quatre's brows raised. "There was an official inquiry, Dr. Nelson." He nodded to Heero. "Perhaps you would refresh her memory as to the findings."
Heero seemed reluctant but he had no choice but to answer. "There were malfunctions in the systems of his craft which might have been fixed had he taken proper precautions. His last safety inspection had expired several months earlier."
"See?" Quatre stared at her. "His own bungling caused his death."
Trynity spun to glare at Miliardo. "Your answer is "no?" You doom the people of Mars, what few would remain, to live under his thumb!" She turned on her heel and left the office. By the time she had exited the salon and was on her way down the corridor to the elevator to take her to the ground floor, Heero had finally caught up to her.
"Hold on, Trynity."
She stopped and waited for him to come around to face her. As far as she was concerned, he was a traitor, too. "If you aren't going to offer any help, then don't bother speaking to me. I think you said enough in the king's office."
"I couldn't lie, Trynity. Lars was taking contraband to Mars. I could have arrested him."
"You have never been to the colony on Mars! Someone had to help those poor people!" Trynity felt frustrated to the point of tears. "You all preach peace and equality, but we are equal only as far as our money will stretch. Lars and I never made a profit from those goods! We used almost all our own money to buy them and distribute them free. How can that be considered smuggling?"
"You heard Quatre, and he is right. In order for commerce to develop on Mars, something has to lure merchants, and unfortunately, the license to sell exclusively is that 'something'."
"Then they can turn people into slaves just to survive. That is what Quatre Winner has done! There are men and women who work in the mines on that planet who barely make enough to survive. He has turned it into another of his resource satellites with conditions so wretched that it is not even civilized." Trynity bit back tears as she thought of the miserable people living on the colony. "I cannot believe an enlightened man like Miliardo Peacecraft can turn a blind eye to such a thing!"
Heero was about to speak but he saw that Benton was waiting for him to return. "I still have some issues to discuss with Miliardo. I'll try to make it quick."
Not bothering to wait for him, Trynity left the palace still seething with anger. As she approached the car, she hit the button on her keys to unlock the door and roll back the top. Maybe a fast ride back to Seaside with the wind in her hair would improve her mood. But before she could key in the code to start the car, the door to the passenger side opened and she turned to see Quatre Winner slide onto the leather seat. Before she could react, he slid his arms around her and drew her to him.
"You are so hot when you are angry, Dr. Nelson." He didn't give her a chance to fight as he held her close and covered her mouth with his. There was nothing remotely arousing about the bruising kiss, and when he released her, he nipped her bottom lip so hard she could taste blood. She was stunned and dizzy from a lack of air, and she fell back weakly as Quatre leaned back against the seat on the passenger side of the car.
"You bastard!" she finally snarled, wiping at her lip with the back of her hand.
Quatre snagged her hand and brought it to his mouth where he flicked out his tongue to lick her blood. "You are delicious, Trynity, but then I've told you that before."
She tried to slap him, but Quatre caught her wrist and held it in a grip so tight she thought he would break it.
As if he could read her mind, he raised one of his blond brows. "What would your precious patients do if you lost the use of this hand?"
"Let go of me."
"Beg me nicely, doctor, and I might."
Their eyes met, and she felt a shudder of something she identified as fear run down her spine. Trynity didn't want to show any weakness, but…
Quatre released her wrist and she quickly pulled it back, rubbing it to restore circulation. He ran a hand through his shoulder-length blond hair, then relaxed against the seat. "Are we done playing games? You know what I want and I'm getting sick of jumping over your hurdles." He put his arm behind her on the seat and she felt his fingers in her hair. "I didn't appreciate getting Miliardo Peacecraft's summons. What good did it do you?"
Trynity stared straight ahead, wondering how her life had come to this point. Who was this man sitting next to her that had the power to terrorize a planet's entire population? How is it that he could make her feel helpless? She realized that she should have seen this coming long ago when they returned from Calabria. The Quatre that had accompanied her and Lars back to Earth was not the same young man that drew pictures on the edges of his papers or wrote poetry to the women he adored. At first they had all been amused by his sudden assertive behavior. Dorothy Catalonia couldn't get enough of him and they married only a few weeks after his return. Dorothy seemed to be pleased by the man he had become although that man treated her with disdain and left her alone for long periods of time to attend to his business enterprises. Dorothy contented herself with administering to the Winner Foundation and raising their son, Malik. Trynity had even formed a friendship with Dorothy. Very often Malik spent his days with her own children while Dorothy threw herself into her charitable work. Trynity often wondered about her relationship with the often absent Quatre, but when they moved to Mars Colony, Dorothy joined her husband and they seemed to be a happy couple.
Those first few years at Mars Colony were actually pleasant ones, with everyone working together to make something of the fledgling world. No one could have predicted what kind of life was waiting to evolve, or that mutations would ensue following the forced rapid terra-forming implemented by the aggressive engineers from the Winner Foundation. They had hoped to create another Earth, but while their expectations were partially met, Mars was teeming with life forms that were more or less hostile to humans. The colony was populated by wretched poor people who couldn't afford to leave, and fools like Trynity who were too stubborn to do so. Quatre seemed to be quite content to live there in his huge mansion, and he and Dorothy had been happy there together. When Dorothy became ill, Quatre was inconsolable in his grief as she wasted away, until she finally succumbed to her disease, one Trynity never could diagnose or treat. That was only a couple of months before Lars had been killed.
Quatre seemed to be waiting for an answer, but she had none. No good had come of this trip. Quatre still had his stranglehold on the colony.
He withdrew his arm, then reached into a pocket inside his suit jacket, withdrawing a key card that he reached over to tuck inside her blouse. "You know the place, Trynity. I think you and Lars rented the condo in the mountains on L11 last year shortly before his unfortunate accident. I think that you and I should spend some time alone coming up with some agreement that can satisfy the both of us. We don't need Miliardo Peacecraft and Heero Yuy to meddle in our affairs, do we?"
Trynity reached inside her blouse, took the card and flicked it back at him. "Go to hell, Winner."
He put the card on the dashboard of the car. "If I do, I'm taking you with me." When he opened the car door and stepped out Trynity was relieved to see Heero approaching. Quatre waited until he came to them. "I see your little discussion with the king did not take long. Are you going to arrest me now?"
"I have no grounds to arrest you," stated Heero, and he glanced at Trynity, his brows raised to question if she was all right.
Quatre laughed, but the sound was brittle and facetious. "I haven't done anything but steal a few kisses here and there. Hardly grounds for arrest, right my dear?" He looked at Trynity with his blond brow arched upward. When she didn't respond, he chuckled and turned back to Heero. "I believe that your wife is throwing one her patented sure to backfire galas in honor of the pilots. I regret that other obligations are going to keep me from attending."
"I doubt you were invited," muttered Trynity.
"Malik will represent the Winner Foundation," continued Quatre, ignoring her comment. "I believe I heard him making plans to dance with your lovely daughter, Trynity."
"Malik is certainly welcome," she said through gritted teeth. "I often wonder how you and Dorothy managed to create such a wonderful boy."
"I would be more than happy to show you exactly how." When Trynity didn't respond except with the disgust reflected in her eyes, Quatre chuckled and bowed. "Always a delight, Dr. Nelson. I'll look forward to seeing you back on Mars Colony." Bowing, he straightened, blew her a kiss then sauntered several feet away where his limousine was waiting. Trynity watched as one of his bodyguards opened the door for him, and Quatre glanced back at her one more time, sending another chill down her spine before disappearing into the car.
Neither she nor Heero spoke until the car had driven away.
"If you have your gun," remarked Trynity, "you should have used it."
Heero slipped into the seat Quatre had vacated. "He was armed, and his goons were waiting for me to make a move so they could shoot me. To be honest, Trynity, I've been spending so much time with administrative duties that I'm not so sure I could take him anyway. Quatre has devoted a lot of his time to learning as many martial arts as he can. He is a dangerous man in more ways than one. He didn't hurt you, did he?"
Trynity hid her throbbing wrist from him, knowing that it would be discolored. "No."
Heero stared at her silently for a moment, and she knew he realized she was lying. But he said, "I think you have been on Mars too long. You need to get away from that hellhole. You didn't accept our offer to stay on L12 after Lars' death. Maybe now you should take a longer break before returning to Mars and spend a few weeks with us. If you don't want to do that, Relena has been complaining that she needs a vacation." Heero reached over to the dash and Trynity felt her face flaming with embarrassment as he picked up the card Quatre had left behind. Holding it up, he said, "You and her can go to L11 together without the hassles of commitments and responsibilities for a couple of weeks. She'd love that. I think you need it."
She shook her head, took the card and tossed it out of the car. "Who will look after my patients if I do not return? I have been away long enough, and I doubt the physician I asked to be on call will actually go down to the surface." She leaned across the seat and hugged Heero. "But I promise that I will stop at L12 long enough to attend that celebration Relena has planned to honor the new pilots. I am only glad that Stryfe has been assigned to L12 so that he can be with his friends. Quynn has missed him."
Heero shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. "I'll tell Relena I tried. You are just too damn stubborn, Trynity. I'm heading back to L12 today. Will you join me on the transport?"
She shook her head. "I have to stay over a few days. I have some medical supplies to purchase with what is left of my money."
"I'm sorry I couldn't help." Heero squeezed her hands. "What you need is a miracle."
"That is all I have left to believe in, isn't it?" Her brows raised. "Perhaps something will fall from the sky."
Heero didn't smile. "Stranger things have happened."
