DISCLAIMER:
I own this? Do you think I own this? Because the answer is NO!
AUTHOR'S NOTE.
Sorry for the long period since the last update. My family went on a surprise holiday and though I took this with me on a floppy disk I couldn't find a computer to upload it on. I am again sorry, but I promise to try to upload a chapter a day (or more) for the next few days.
CHAPTER 5. MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
The last thing Heero remembered was watching the strange suit Zechs was flying take off into the stratosphere. But the sight he saw now was completely different.
A pale white ceiling, lined with halogen lights filled his field of view. His mind, still panicked from the battle, came to a rather inaccurate conclusion.
'I've been captured.'
Soldier reflexes honed to perfection by years of combat, the wiry 17-year old vaulted off the surface he was on, and grabbed the nearest person he saw, grabbing them to serve as a human shield against any aggressors.
"Heero!"
Heero blinked and recognised the person he had grabbed.
Noin peeled Heero's fingers from around her neck and turned to face him, fire in her eyes. Surprise registered on his face, aged beyond his years, and he surveyed the room he was in.
He was in a small hospital ward. With only four other beds and no windows, it was odd to say the least. Noin rubbed her eyes.
"You're not in a war anymore Heero," she put a hand on his shoulder. In his usual monotone, he responded.
"Maybe you should tell that to your boyfriend."
Hurt, Noin sat down on the bed Heero had just vacated. Gradually, he took in who was in each bunk.
Duo was curled up in a ball on his bunk, snoring loudly, a smile on his face, mumbling in his sleep.
"I am the great destroyer...kill...destroy...Deathscythe maim...bitch Relena..."
Heero smiled slightly. Duo never got round to fully trusting Relena. In his eyes, anyone who tried to destroy all weapons in the interests of total pacifism was either certifiable or planning something behind their back. As he moved onto the next bed, he heard Duo mumble something else, "Mmm....tomato ketchup."
Trowa was sitting up in his bed, his head and torso heavily bandaged, silently reading 'War and Peace.' He looked up briefly from his page and made eye contact with Heero. Both nodded slightly by way of greeting.
Like Trowa, Wufei was reading. Sitting cross-legged on his face he was consulting the legendry guide to combat, 'The Art of War'. Unlike Trowa, he did not look up.
The last bed was occupied by Quatre, who had an IV drip in his arm. Heero glanced up from his placid, peaceful face to see what kind of doctor was tending to him and grunted with surprise.
"Sally."
Sally Po turned at him and smiled, "Well, I see the perfect soldier is awake at last."
Heero gestured at the ward.
"How long have we been here?"
"Two days. When I heard you lot had been injured I flew down here to check up on you." Heero wasn't surprised. Sally was well known for her care for the young Preventers and her skills as a doctor were famed.
"How did I get here?"
"Wufei carried you. When he saw Zechs take off he picked up Wing Zero and carried you here. You've been receiving treatment for minor hypothermia and malnutrition. Trowa received heavy burns to his head and chest when Heavyarm's head exploded and Quatre's in a coma."
"Duo?"
"Duo's fine. He had a minor case of shock. When his Gundam lost power he was sealed in the cockpit in complete darkness for over an hour before Howard's team could cut him out. They found him in a catatonic state chewing on his braid. I think he's afraid of the dark. They gave him enough sedatives to knock out an elephant and let him sleep it off."
"What's wrong with Quatre?" Trowa had gotten out of bed without anyone noticing and walked over to them. Heero winced, not a frequent occurrence. What little he could see of Trowa's flesh was burned and had large amounts of antiseptic smeared on it. His face miraculously, was unharmed.
"Like I said to Heero, he's in a shock induced coma. Apparently when they brought him in here he was conscious and mumbling before he slipped off. Something about 'red eyes' and 'Zechs being the suit.' We've been supplying him with nutrients and stimulants to try and wake him up."
Trowa by now had sat on the edge of Quatre's bed, rubbing the unconscious boy's hand. Heero was surprised. Was that emotion he could see in Trowa's one visible eye?
Slowly and very self-consciously, Trowa leaned down and placed a gentle, lingering kiss on Quatre's lips. Heero looked away for a second to grant them privacy. Trowa and Quatre's 'relationship' was pretty well known, but no one had ever seen them display any open signs of affection for each other. He looked at Noin sitting on his bunk, staring at her feet in misery. Heero felt a surge of guilt.
"Hn."
Noin looked up; Heero was wearing his usual blank expression, but was not looking directly at her face.
"Sorry."
"Pardon."
"I'm sorry for hurting your feelings."
Noin stared in amazement, before grinning slightly.
"Thanks."
That burden off his chest, Heero turned back to Quatre's bunk. Trowa had stopped kissing him but was still stoking his hand.
"Hi!"
Heero raised an eyebrow. It seemed that Quatre had woken up, wonder of all wonders. Unlike Noin or Sally however, he did not rush to the bedside, but instead, lay back on his bunk, and for the first time in his life, felt safe in a hospital.
His ears pricked up. A piece of music was playing gently over the ward PA. As he watched Quatre sitting up in bed and staring with open affection at Trowa, who had returned to 'War and Peace'. He smiled slightly and lay back as the voice of the late Huey Lewis continued to sing about 'The Power of Love.'
As he lay there, he began to play back the battle in his head. There was something that irked him.
Suddenly, he sat up.
"Adam Rook."
*
'We were both born to fight. So let our enemies fall before us.'
'Who is our enemy?'
'The Autobots, but they are nowhere to be found.'
'Then who do we fight?'
'Those who attacked us. Who were they?'
'The gundams, but they are my allies.'
'Would 'allies' attack us?'
'No but...'
'Then they are our enemies, these Gundams.'
'Our enemies...'
'And we will destroy them.'
'Yes...'
'And their allies.'
'Yes...'
'Then it is settled. We shall crush our enemies, and from their ashes, we shall reap conquest.'
'Yes...yes, I like that.'
"CONQUEST IS MADE FROM THE ASHES OF OUR ENEMIES!"
And with that bizarre twin voice, the sleek jet plunged from orbit into the atmosphere.
*
"Decepticons."
"What?"
"That's what 'Zechs' yelled before he took off."
"Does it mean anything to you?"
"Yes, yes it does."
Heero had been sitting typing at his laptop for over half an hour. After hooking the computer up to Genesis' mainframe he had shut up, only uttering his customary "Hn." However, he finally lent back, and picked up a sheaf of paper the mainframe's printer had spewed forth.
He turned to face the few others grouped in the control room. The four other pilots all leaned against equipment or railings. Noin, Howard, Sally and Latta were all present as well. After they had given a run down on everything they knew on the suit Heero had cleared the control room of the crew and handed out the eight dossiers he had printed.
Each was rather alarmingly labelled. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------
CONFIDENTIAL NSA/CIA/FBI DOCUMENT.
ROOK DOSSIER
THIS FILE IS CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET-AUTHORISED ONLY TO THOSE WITH GRADE 2. CLEARANCE OR HIGHER.
Examination by unauthorised persons is a federal offence punishable by fines and imprisonment up to 20 years and $20,000.
Repeating of this information to persons unauthorised is a federal offence and carries the same fines and/or period of imprisonment.
DO NOT ACCEPT FROM COURIER IF SEAL IS BROKEN
The courier is required by law to demand your card 7592. He is not permitted to relinquish this file without such proof of identity. The courier is authorised to use any means necessary to prevent theft of this document and carries a loaded firearm.
DOC. REF.
CIA/NSA/FBI02384495AUT/CON.C-TRONWARS.RK/TL-BAN.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------
"Is this legal?" Duo was holding the document at arm's length as though it would sprout arms and cuff' his wrists.
"Yes," Heero was now holding his own document. "Not only are all preventers cleared with Grade 1. security but the United States government has been liquidated for nearly a century and a half," he paused, "as any 5 year old knows." Duo blushed.
"Also, nearly every 5-year old knows that all files of defunct governments are stored electronically at the world parliament at Brussels, on a computer network believed to be impregnable, but which for the past seven years has been happily leaking me information."
Sally leant back in her seat, staring at the ceiling.
"Let me guess. You overcame the lack of any physical connection from the network to the Internet by breaking in and installing a satellite uplink. And you did it at the age of ten."
Heero nodded.
"Operation Meteor wasn't the first time I came to earth. It was partly a test to see if I could infiltrate security. I was on and off earth within seven hours."
"Where did you hide it?"
"Janitor's closet on the fifth level. There's a modem box in there that interconnects the parliament computer system. I replaced the modem with one J had modified to create a link to the outside using the building's own communications dish. Utterly untraceable. The transmitter is programmed to switch frequencies every tenth of a second. Only this," he rested the hand on his laptop, "has the programming necessary to translate what sounds like garbage or static to anyone else into maximum security files. Picks it up through the sub's uplink."
Duo leaned forward in his seat.
"Top secret files? From every government in recent history?" His eyes shone, "were there aliens at Roswell? Was the Titanic sunk in an insurance fraud by the White Star Line? Was..."
"Shut up!"
Eyes spun to Wufei, who took a deep breath.
"Yuy's hardly going to waste his time hacking files like this looking for sensationalist tripe!"
Heero grunted.
"Let's get on with this."
All flipped open their files and were faced with a high quality Polaroid of a handsome, if somewhat troubled man. The hair was sleek auburn and close- cut. The features were elegantly chiselled. Noin was reminded oddly of the twentieth century actor Sean Bean. The face however, was drawn and haggard, the chin had a growth of stubble. The eyes were deep and sunken and conveyed a sense of great malevolence.
"Adam Rook." Trowa was reading from his sheet in a clear voice, "History: Born December 20th 1962 to English parents in Vancouver, Canada. Graduated from MIT in 1982 with several degrees in engineering and started up his mining company, Rook Engineering with funds obtained from industrialist GB Blackrock in 1983. Among leases in various tracts of land Rook purchased the rights to mine Mt. St.Hillary in Oregon, USA in that same year," Noin looked up briefly, "Despite threats of a violent eruption Rook mined the mountain for several months before closing the mine down, for reasons unknown. Shortly after he closed the mine it was obliterated by the predicted eruption. In 1993 Rook abruptly liquidated Rook Engineering and started up a new firm, Cybertronics, which specialised in microchip development and manufacture."
Trowa came to the end of the page and flipped over, but was faced with the disturbing warning from the front page. Eye raised slightly, he flipped it over to reveal the next page of text, stamped 'TOP SECRET' in thick red letters.
"Man, these people were paranoid about security." Duo was reading the warning again.
Trowa remained silent and Heero took up the telling of the tale. His narration wasn't needed however; his audience had their eyes fixed to the file, which apparently made for compelling reading.
"Where Rook obtained the funds to start up Cybertronics was unknown, but later clandestine reports indicated suspicious business practices. It seems Rook as well as selling his remaining stock and hardware from the liquidation and at the same time receiving exuberant sums of money from terrorist organisations like the Irish Republican Army and the Taliban."
As Heero rattled off the names of two of the world's most hated terrorist groups ever, responsible for the slaughter of thousands and still held in infamy in AC198, a hush fell. After a suitably respectful pause, he continued.
".and the Taliban, promising them powerful weapons in return. These reports promoted the NSA, FBI and CIA to begin a joint investigation into Rook's organisation.
Though Cybertronics specialised in electronics Rook had hired a large amount of mechanical engineers, computer programmers and technicians leased from the Nova Robotics Corporation to work in his manufacturing facility in Northern Canada. Also he began buying fleets of varied motor vehicles and an entire division of fighters that were being scrapped by the airforce. This prompted the investigators to send an agent into this facility as a mole.
In early 2001 the agent finally made contact with Washington with evidence convicting Rook of collaborating with the Taliban and also promised further information on a private project run by Cybertronics known as the Lazarus project. When this information never appeared the federal agents moved in to arrest Rook on suspicion of him murdering their mole. Rook was arrested on August 8th 2001 and transferred to the Pentagon for interrogation. All he said was that his army of 'Decepticons' would devastate the country for locking him up." Heero at this point smirked.
"Rook paid for his treason on September 11th 2001."
The room fell silent when they realised what he implied. Duo chuckled humourlessly.
"He was destroyed by the very organisation he was dealing with. That's irony."
Noin looked up.
"This is interesting Heero, but why did you find it in the first place. There's no data here of a dangerous or secret level."
"The satellite uplink was partly to boost my training. Dr. J set me to hacking the files that were encrypted or protected to the maximum degree. Things that were never, ever to be made known to the public." He looked at Duo, "NOT things like Roswell, which was news mongering by a few sensationalists papers. On the otherhand Maxwell, the Titanic was sunk as part of an insurance fraud."
Before Duo could speak up he carried on.
"This was one of the most encrypted files in the files of the former USA, and that's why I hacked it, and that's why the word 'Decepticons' meant something to me. However, the accompanying file on this Project Lazarus, eventually delivered by the mole, still alive, but in hiding, was locked out to even my hacking skills."
Duo snorted, "that I can well believe." Heero glared him into silence.
"Since then my skills have improved but I only broke into the file ten minutes ago. So whatever we're about to read is new to me too but I'll bet that it's the key to this mystery. It's obviously of a sensitive nature because after this Lazarus file was delivered the CIA either bribed Rook's workers to keep their silence, or decided to use more 'permanent' methods to prevent this information ever being divulged."
An oppressive silence descended. Heero glanced round slowly.
"Is everyone here willing to proceed?" There were silent nods all around the room. "Right. Let's read on."
The pages were all flipped over. After a few silent minutes of reading everyone leant back into their seats, utter amazement etched into their faces. Even Heero, the perfect soldier was astounded.
"Oh.My.God."
To be continued...
AUTHOR NOTE:
Short I know, but the next few chapters should be uploaded tomorrow or this evening, and I promise they're better. And I know I said Duo would take charge but I made a mistake, and I promise it does happen in the next chapter.
CHAPTER NOTES.
Heero's always going to think he's been captured if he wakes up in an unfamiliar place isn't he?
Trowa seems the kind of person to read something as heavy and cultural as 'War and Peace.'
'The Art of War' is a Korean work but since it's from the east and the nature of its content deals with (I believe) the art and inherent honour of war it seems the kind of thing Wufei would read.
MORE YAOI! Did I take this too far?
AHA! Heero Yuy mellows somewhat.
"The power of love, is a curious thing! Makes one man weep, makes another one sing..." Throwing this in was a bit campy I know, but it seemed to feel right, and I guess a few of you might find it funny.
Starscream and Zechs interacting. That jet's one manipulative b*****d ain't he.
"Conquest is made from the ashes of one's enemies" was Starscream's original signiture quote from the TF toy line.
The TOP SECRET file's cover warnings were inspired by those within the front cover of Michael Crichton's excellent techno-thriller the 'Andromeda Strain.'
In my new world history, the USA and other governments collapsed around AC45 (2155 AD), and the United Earth Sphere Alliance rose from the ashes to govern the earth and colonies (cough) justly and (cough, cough) fairly.
Endless Waltz suggests that Brussels is the world's new capital city, and given that the Romefeller foundation was European, it seems to work.
One of my readers, Arthur Edwards, has been very helpful to me as a kind of beta-reader for this chapter, and informed me that government computer networks that contain sensitive data have no physical connection to communication's systems like the internet, thus Heero could not have hacked former CIA files. Hence, Heero's raid on Brussels at age ten was born, and it sounds very convincing to me. Thanks.
Who hasn't heard about the rumoured aliens at Roswell, New Mexico and Area Fifty-something (can't remember quite which number it is.)?
Nova Robotics is the fictional computer that built the lovable robot Johnny 5 from the 'Short Circuit' movies.
Recently I read an excellent book called 'Titanic; The Ship that Never Sank?' by an author called Robin Gardiner which suggests the great liner might have been swapped with it's near identical older sister the Olympic some months prior to the ill-fated voyage, due to several damages the Olympic had suffered in it's early life, including a collision with a warship called the HMS Hawke which made her uneconomical to run and unable to make a profit. Olympic, disguised as Titanic, would fake an impact with an iceberg, unload her passengers into rescue ships and then be scuttled, allowing the White Star Line to clear up on the insurance. However, due to several mishaps, Olympic suffered fatal damage in the 'fake' collision and the rest is history. The evidence given to support Gardiner's theory is very convincing and there is a good chance that future investigations of the great ship's wreck will prove him right.
Adam Rook is a character owned by Dreamwave Comics and the general idea of the Lazarus project is theirs too.
TF fans will recognise the name GB Blackrock as an industrialist from the original comics who offered a sizeable degree of help to the Autobots.
The new timeline is as thus: In 1983 Rook Industries begin mining Mt. St. Hillary and discover the Transformers, still with their Cybertronian modes. He secretly removes them from the mountain, which then goes Krakatoa, wiping out the mine but NOT the Ark. With his mining firm in shambles Rook decides to play the only asset he has; the TFs. He raises funds by liquidating his firm and getting backing from terrorists. Using this money he sets up Cybertronics (original name huh?) and exploits the TF's technology to produce advanced microchips and electronics. With the thus amassed funds he purchases vehicles and aircraft and builds new modes for them using technicians in his plant in Canada. Shortly before his arrest, he transfers the TFs back to the Ark in preparation for the final sale of the TFs to his final bidder, the Taliban. After he is arrested, the Sept. 11th attack on the Pentagon wipes him out. In the aftermath, the case is given up on, but when the Lazarus file is finally delivered, the government hushes it up because of the amazing content. The transformers, are never found.
I hope no-one objects to my use of the September 11th attacks as a plot device, and I express my sympathy to anyone reading this who was affected in these evil attacks on a good nation.
You know what they've found out. Click onwards to confirm it. I promise that it's one of my better chapters.
See Ya!
And pleasepleasepleaseplease! review soon! I thrive on reviews.
I own this? Do you think I own this? Because the answer is NO!
AUTHOR'S NOTE.
Sorry for the long period since the last update. My family went on a surprise holiday and though I took this with me on a floppy disk I couldn't find a computer to upload it on. I am again sorry, but I promise to try to upload a chapter a day (or more) for the next few days.
CHAPTER 5. MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
The last thing Heero remembered was watching the strange suit Zechs was flying take off into the stratosphere. But the sight he saw now was completely different.
A pale white ceiling, lined with halogen lights filled his field of view. His mind, still panicked from the battle, came to a rather inaccurate conclusion.
'I've been captured.'
Soldier reflexes honed to perfection by years of combat, the wiry 17-year old vaulted off the surface he was on, and grabbed the nearest person he saw, grabbing them to serve as a human shield against any aggressors.
"Heero!"
Heero blinked and recognised the person he had grabbed.
Noin peeled Heero's fingers from around her neck and turned to face him, fire in her eyes. Surprise registered on his face, aged beyond his years, and he surveyed the room he was in.
He was in a small hospital ward. With only four other beds and no windows, it was odd to say the least. Noin rubbed her eyes.
"You're not in a war anymore Heero," she put a hand on his shoulder. In his usual monotone, he responded.
"Maybe you should tell that to your boyfriend."
Hurt, Noin sat down on the bed Heero had just vacated. Gradually, he took in who was in each bunk.
Duo was curled up in a ball on his bunk, snoring loudly, a smile on his face, mumbling in his sleep.
"I am the great destroyer...kill...destroy...Deathscythe maim...bitch Relena..."
Heero smiled slightly. Duo never got round to fully trusting Relena. In his eyes, anyone who tried to destroy all weapons in the interests of total pacifism was either certifiable or planning something behind their back. As he moved onto the next bed, he heard Duo mumble something else, "Mmm....tomato ketchup."
Trowa was sitting up in his bed, his head and torso heavily bandaged, silently reading 'War and Peace.' He looked up briefly from his page and made eye contact with Heero. Both nodded slightly by way of greeting.
Like Trowa, Wufei was reading. Sitting cross-legged on his face he was consulting the legendry guide to combat, 'The Art of War'. Unlike Trowa, he did not look up.
The last bed was occupied by Quatre, who had an IV drip in his arm. Heero glanced up from his placid, peaceful face to see what kind of doctor was tending to him and grunted with surprise.
"Sally."
Sally Po turned at him and smiled, "Well, I see the perfect soldier is awake at last."
Heero gestured at the ward.
"How long have we been here?"
"Two days. When I heard you lot had been injured I flew down here to check up on you." Heero wasn't surprised. Sally was well known for her care for the young Preventers and her skills as a doctor were famed.
"How did I get here?"
"Wufei carried you. When he saw Zechs take off he picked up Wing Zero and carried you here. You've been receiving treatment for minor hypothermia and malnutrition. Trowa received heavy burns to his head and chest when Heavyarm's head exploded and Quatre's in a coma."
"Duo?"
"Duo's fine. He had a minor case of shock. When his Gundam lost power he was sealed in the cockpit in complete darkness for over an hour before Howard's team could cut him out. They found him in a catatonic state chewing on his braid. I think he's afraid of the dark. They gave him enough sedatives to knock out an elephant and let him sleep it off."
"What's wrong with Quatre?" Trowa had gotten out of bed without anyone noticing and walked over to them. Heero winced, not a frequent occurrence. What little he could see of Trowa's flesh was burned and had large amounts of antiseptic smeared on it. His face miraculously, was unharmed.
"Like I said to Heero, he's in a shock induced coma. Apparently when they brought him in here he was conscious and mumbling before he slipped off. Something about 'red eyes' and 'Zechs being the suit.' We've been supplying him with nutrients and stimulants to try and wake him up."
Trowa by now had sat on the edge of Quatre's bed, rubbing the unconscious boy's hand. Heero was surprised. Was that emotion he could see in Trowa's one visible eye?
Slowly and very self-consciously, Trowa leaned down and placed a gentle, lingering kiss on Quatre's lips. Heero looked away for a second to grant them privacy. Trowa and Quatre's 'relationship' was pretty well known, but no one had ever seen them display any open signs of affection for each other. He looked at Noin sitting on his bunk, staring at her feet in misery. Heero felt a surge of guilt.
"Hn."
Noin looked up; Heero was wearing his usual blank expression, but was not looking directly at her face.
"Sorry."
"Pardon."
"I'm sorry for hurting your feelings."
Noin stared in amazement, before grinning slightly.
"Thanks."
That burden off his chest, Heero turned back to Quatre's bunk. Trowa had stopped kissing him but was still stoking his hand.
"Hi!"
Heero raised an eyebrow. It seemed that Quatre had woken up, wonder of all wonders. Unlike Noin or Sally however, he did not rush to the bedside, but instead, lay back on his bunk, and for the first time in his life, felt safe in a hospital.
His ears pricked up. A piece of music was playing gently over the ward PA. As he watched Quatre sitting up in bed and staring with open affection at Trowa, who had returned to 'War and Peace'. He smiled slightly and lay back as the voice of the late Huey Lewis continued to sing about 'The Power of Love.'
As he lay there, he began to play back the battle in his head. There was something that irked him.
Suddenly, he sat up.
"Adam Rook."
*
'We were both born to fight. So let our enemies fall before us.'
'Who is our enemy?'
'The Autobots, but they are nowhere to be found.'
'Then who do we fight?'
'Those who attacked us. Who were they?'
'The gundams, but they are my allies.'
'Would 'allies' attack us?'
'No but...'
'Then they are our enemies, these Gundams.'
'Our enemies...'
'And we will destroy them.'
'Yes...'
'And their allies.'
'Yes...'
'Then it is settled. We shall crush our enemies, and from their ashes, we shall reap conquest.'
'Yes...yes, I like that.'
"CONQUEST IS MADE FROM THE ASHES OF OUR ENEMIES!"
And with that bizarre twin voice, the sleek jet plunged from orbit into the atmosphere.
*
"Decepticons."
"What?"
"That's what 'Zechs' yelled before he took off."
"Does it mean anything to you?"
"Yes, yes it does."
Heero had been sitting typing at his laptop for over half an hour. After hooking the computer up to Genesis' mainframe he had shut up, only uttering his customary "Hn." However, he finally lent back, and picked up a sheaf of paper the mainframe's printer had spewed forth.
He turned to face the few others grouped in the control room. The four other pilots all leaned against equipment or railings. Noin, Howard, Sally and Latta were all present as well. After they had given a run down on everything they knew on the suit Heero had cleared the control room of the crew and handed out the eight dossiers he had printed.
Each was rather alarmingly labelled. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------
CONFIDENTIAL NSA/CIA/FBI DOCUMENT.
ROOK DOSSIER
THIS FILE IS CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET-AUTHORISED ONLY TO THOSE WITH GRADE 2. CLEARANCE OR HIGHER.
Examination by unauthorised persons is a federal offence punishable by fines and imprisonment up to 20 years and $20,000.
Repeating of this information to persons unauthorised is a federal offence and carries the same fines and/or period of imprisonment.
DO NOT ACCEPT FROM COURIER IF SEAL IS BROKEN
The courier is required by law to demand your card 7592. He is not permitted to relinquish this file without such proof of identity. The courier is authorised to use any means necessary to prevent theft of this document and carries a loaded firearm.
DOC. REF.
CIA/NSA/FBI02384495AUT/CON.C-TRONWARS.RK/TL-BAN.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------
"Is this legal?" Duo was holding the document at arm's length as though it would sprout arms and cuff' his wrists.
"Yes," Heero was now holding his own document. "Not only are all preventers cleared with Grade 1. security but the United States government has been liquidated for nearly a century and a half," he paused, "as any 5 year old knows." Duo blushed.
"Also, nearly every 5-year old knows that all files of defunct governments are stored electronically at the world parliament at Brussels, on a computer network believed to be impregnable, but which for the past seven years has been happily leaking me information."
Sally leant back in her seat, staring at the ceiling.
"Let me guess. You overcame the lack of any physical connection from the network to the Internet by breaking in and installing a satellite uplink. And you did it at the age of ten."
Heero nodded.
"Operation Meteor wasn't the first time I came to earth. It was partly a test to see if I could infiltrate security. I was on and off earth within seven hours."
"Where did you hide it?"
"Janitor's closet on the fifth level. There's a modem box in there that interconnects the parliament computer system. I replaced the modem with one J had modified to create a link to the outside using the building's own communications dish. Utterly untraceable. The transmitter is programmed to switch frequencies every tenth of a second. Only this," he rested the hand on his laptop, "has the programming necessary to translate what sounds like garbage or static to anyone else into maximum security files. Picks it up through the sub's uplink."
Duo leaned forward in his seat.
"Top secret files? From every government in recent history?" His eyes shone, "were there aliens at Roswell? Was the Titanic sunk in an insurance fraud by the White Star Line? Was..."
"Shut up!"
Eyes spun to Wufei, who took a deep breath.
"Yuy's hardly going to waste his time hacking files like this looking for sensationalist tripe!"
Heero grunted.
"Let's get on with this."
All flipped open their files and were faced with a high quality Polaroid of a handsome, if somewhat troubled man. The hair was sleek auburn and close- cut. The features were elegantly chiselled. Noin was reminded oddly of the twentieth century actor Sean Bean. The face however, was drawn and haggard, the chin had a growth of stubble. The eyes were deep and sunken and conveyed a sense of great malevolence.
"Adam Rook." Trowa was reading from his sheet in a clear voice, "History: Born December 20th 1962 to English parents in Vancouver, Canada. Graduated from MIT in 1982 with several degrees in engineering and started up his mining company, Rook Engineering with funds obtained from industrialist GB Blackrock in 1983. Among leases in various tracts of land Rook purchased the rights to mine Mt. St.Hillary in Oregon, USA in that same year," Noin looked up briefly, "Despite threats of a violent eruption Rook mined the mountain for several months before closing the mine down, for reasons unknown. Shortly after he closed the mine it was obliterated by the predicted eruption. In 1993 Rook abruptly liquidated Rook Engineering and started up a new firm, Cybertronics, which specialised in microchip development and manufacture."
Trowa came to the end of the page and flipped over, but was faced with the disturbing warning from the front page. Eye raised slightly, he flipped it over to reveal the next page of text, stamped 'TOP SECRET' in thick red letters.
"Man, these people were paranoid about security." Duo was reading the warning again.
Trowa remained silent and Heero took up the telling of the tale. His narration wasn't needed however; his audience had their eyes fixed to the file, which apparently made for compelling reading.
"Where Rook obtained the funds to start up Cybertronics was unknown, but later clandestine reports indicated suspicious business practices. It seems Rook as well as selling his remaining stock and hardware from the liquidation and at the same time receiving exuberant sums of money from terrorist organisations like the Irish Republican Army and the Taliban."
As Heero rattled off the names of two of the world's most hated terrorist groups ever, responsible for the slaughter of thousands and still held in infamy in AC198, a hush fell. After a suitably respectful pause, he continued.
".and the Taliban, promising them powerful weapons in return. These reports promoted the NSA, FBI and CIA to begin a joint investigation into Rook's organisation.
Though Cybertronics specialised in electronics Rook had hired a large amount of mechanical engineers, computer programmers and technicians leased from the Nova Robotics Corporation to work in his manufacturing facility in Northern Canada. Also he began buying fleets of varied motor vehicles and an entire division of fighters that were being scrapped by the airforce. This prompted the investigators to send an agent into this facility as a mole.
In early 2001 the agent finally made contact with Washington with evidence convicting Rook of collaborating with the Taliban and also promised further information on a private project run by Cybertronics known as the Lazarus project. When this information never appeared the federal agents moved in to arrest Rook on suspicion of him murdering their mole. Rook was arrested on August 8th 2001 and transferred to the Pentagon for interrogation. All he said was that his army of 'Decepticons' would devastate the country for locking him up." Heero at this point smirked.
"Rook paid for his treason on September 11th 2001."
The room fell silent when they realised what he implied. Duo chuckled humourlessly.
"He was destroyed by the very organisation he was dealing with. That's irony."
Noin looked up.
"This is interesting Heero, but why did you find it in the first place. There's no data here of a dangerous or secret level."
"The satellite uplink was partly to boost my training. Dr. J set me to hacking the files that were encrypted or protected to the maximum degree. Things that were never, ever to be made known to the public." He looked at Duo, "NOT things like Roswell, which was news mongering by a few sensationalists papers. On the otherhand Maxwell, the Titanic was sunk as part of an insurance fraud."
Before Duo could speak up he carried on.
"This was one of the most encrypted files in the files of the former USA, and that's why I hacked it, and that's why the word 'Decepticons' meant something to me. However, the accompanying file on this Project Lazarus, eventually delivered by the mole, still alive, but in hiding, was locked out to even my hacking skills."
Duo snorted, "that I can well believe." Heero glared him into silence.
"Since then my skills have improved but I only broke into the file ten minutes ago. So whatever we're about to read is new to me too but I'll bet that it's the key to this mystery. It's obviously of a sensitive nature because after this Lazarus file was delivered the CIA either bribed Rook's workers to keep their silence, or decided to use more 'permanent' methods to prevent this information ever being divulged."
An oppressive silence descended. Heero glanced round slowly.
"Is everyone here willing to proceed?" There were silent nods all around the room. "Right. Let's read on."
The pages were all flipped over. After a few silent minutes of reading everyone leant back into their seats, utter amazement etched into their faces. Even Heero, the perfect soldier was astounded.
"Oh.My.God."
To be continued...
AUTHOR NOTE:
Short I know, but the next few chapters should be uploaded tomorrow or this evening, and I promise they're better. And I know I said Duo would take charge but I made a mistake, and I promise it does happen in the next chapter.
CHAPTER NOTES.
Heero's always going to think he's been captured if he wakes up in an unfamiliar place isn't he?
Trowa seems the kind of person to read something as heavy and cultural as 'War and Peace.'
'The Art of War' is a Korean work but since it's from the east and the nature of its content deals with (I believe) the art and inherent honour of war it seems the kind of thing Wufei would read.
MORE YAOI! Did I take this too far?
AHA! Heero Yuy mellows somewhat.
"The power of love, is a curious thing! Makes one man weep, makes another one sing..." Throwing this in was a bit campy I know, but it seemed to feel right, and I guess a few of you might find it funny.
Starscream and Zechs interacting. That jet's one manipulative b*****d ain't he.
"Conquest is made from the ashes of one's enemies" was Starscream's original signiture quote from the TF toy line.
The TOP SECRET file's cover warnings were inspired by those within the front cover of Michael Crichton's excellent techno-thriller the 'Andromeda Strain.'
In my new world history, the USA and other governments collapsed around AC45 (2155 AD), and the United Earth Sphere Alliance rose from the ashes to govern the earth and colonies (cough) justly and (cough, cough) fairly.
Endless Waltz suggests that Brussels is the world's new capital city, and given that the Romefeller foundation was European, it seems to work.
One of my readers, Arthur Edwards, has been very helpful to me as a kind of beta-reader for this chapter, and informed me that government computer networks that contain sensitive data have no physical connection to communication's systems like the internet, thus Heero could not have hacked former CIA files. Hence, Heero's raid on Brussels at age ten was born, and it sounds very convincing to me. Thanks.
Who hasn't heard about the rumoured aliens at Roswell, New Mexico and Area Fifty-something (can't remember quite which number it is.)?
Nova Robotics is the fictional computer that built the lovable robot Johnny 5 from the 'Short Circuit' movies.
Recently I read an excellent book called 'Titanic; The Ship that Never Sank?' by an author called Robin Gardiner which suggests the great liner might have been swapped with it's near identical older sister the Olympic some months prior to the ill-fated voyage, due to several damages the Olympic had suffered in it's early life, including a collision with a warship called the HMS Hawke which made her uneconomical to run and unable to make a profit. Olympic, disguised as Titanic, would fake an impact with an iceberg, unload her passengers into rescue ships and then be scuttled, allowing the White Star Line to clear up on the insurance. However, due to several mishaps, Olympic suffered fatal damage in the 'fake' collision and the rest is history. The evidence given to support Gardiner's theory is very convincing and there is a good chance that future investigations of the great ship's wreck will prove him right.
Adam Rook is a character owned by Dreamwave Comics and the general idea of the Lazarus project is theirs too.
TF fans will recognise the name GB Blackrock as an industrialist from the original comics who offered a sizeable degree of help to the Autobots.
The new timeline is as thus: In 1983 Rook Industries begin mining Mt. St. Hillary and discover the Transformers, still with their Cybertronian modes. He secretly removes them from the mountain, which then goes Krakatoa, wiping out the mine but NOT the Ark. With his mining firm in shambles Rook decides to play the only asset he has; the TFs. He raises funds by liquidating his firm and getting backing from terrorists. Using this money he sets up Cybertronics (original name huh?) and exploits the TF's technology to produce advanced microchips and electronics. With the thus amassed funds he purchases vehicles and aircraft and builds new modes for them using technicians in his plant in Canada. Shortly before his arrest, he transfers the TFs back to the Ark in preparation for the final sale of the TFs to his final bidder, the Taliban. After he is arrested, the Sept. 11th attack on the Pentagon wipes him out. In the aftermath, the case is given up on, but when the Lazarus file is finally delivered, the government hushes it up because of the amazing content. The transformers, are never found.
I hope no-one objects to my use of the September 11th attacks as a plot device, and I express my sympathy to anyone reading this who was affected in these evil attacks on a good nation.
You know what they've found out. Click onwards to confirm it. I promise that it's one of my better chapters.
See Ya!
And pleasepleasepleaseplease! review soon! I thrive on reviews.