Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing or The Parent Trap.

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The Maxwell Trap

by Dorothy Winner

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"You're going away on a Sweepers mission for two months?"

"Yeah, I know, Sydney, I'm not any happier about it than you are," said Duo.

"But why? You've been a Sweeper since before I was born; how much more stuff can be floating around out there?"

"You'd be surprised," said Duo. "The things people leave floating around out there… some people just have no respect for space. There's all sorts of junk… building materials, obsolete parts, broken shuttles, busted equipment… it's like litter, ya know? They're too lazy to dispose of it themselves so they just go and eject it into space and make someone else do the work."

"And you're the one who has to go do it?"

"Pretty much, yeah," said Duo. "If no one cleaned up, space would be a giant floating junkyard. It'd be a real mess."

"Can't I go with you?"

"Well, Syd, it's pretty boring stuff, actually. We just fly around and suck up the stuff… and then we have to go through the pile and catalog it all. We gotta figure out what we can fix and use again, and what pretty much is useless we gotta throw into the incinerator. It can be pretty dangerous work sometimes, and I don't wanna risk ya getting hurt."

"So this means I can get the whole house to myself?" Sydney asked eagerly.

"I'd hate to see what this place would look like after you've lived in it for two months. Plus there's nobody here to watch ya. Nah, I was thinkin'… how would you like to go to summer camp?"

"Summer camp? Where?"

"On Earth. I looked around a bunch of places… there's a really nice one in Maine, you know, on the North American continent…"

"Dad, I've heard about those things… bad food, bad weather, mean camp counselors, annoying kids you have to share your cabin with, and bugs. You know I hate bugs."

"That's cuz you're a colony kid… all this artificial stuff… you gotta go down there, breathe some fresh air, roll around in the dirt, get sunburned…"

"Dad, I won't even know anybody there," said Sydney.

"You're a great kid, Sydney, you'll make friends quick enough. There'll be a lot of girls there for you to get to know."

"Wait a minute. It's a girls camp? You're not even sending me to a coed camp where there are at least some boys?"

"I have enough to worry about you going away to a camp for two months; I don't want to also worry about you being with boys at the camp… no way…"

"I'm going to be stuck at a camp with all girls?"

"Come on, Syd, it won't be that bad. Plus, I talked to your Uncle Heero and Uncle Trowa… turns out Alexandra Yuy and Gabrielle Barton are going too. So you don't have to worry about not knowing anybody or being in a cabin with people you don't like."

"Alexandra and Gabrielle are going to be there? Awesome!" Sydney exclaimed.

"So does this mean ya wanna go?" asked Duo.

"I'll go pack right now!" Sydney said excitedly, running upstairs to her room. "I'm going to need so much stuff!"

"Sydney!" Duo called after her. "You don't have to… it's not for another week!"

~*~

"But I don't want to go to summer camp!" Heidi cried in dismay.

Hilde put her hands on her hips. "It's not like you really have a choice. This happens every summer, Heidi. You sit in front of your computer all day, all summer."

"So? It's not like I'm fat or anything."

"But you hardly ever go outside anymore. I've decided that it would be good for you if you went to an outdoor summer camp. No computers for two months."

"Two months?" Heidi exclaimed in horror.

"Your Uncle Wufei came up with the idea, actually. He can't have you crashing his computer every other day. Plus it would be really good for you to meet new people who aren't online. I found a really nice camp in Maine that I think you'll like."

"Does it have computers?"

"I already said it didn't."

"How can I like a camp that has no computers?"

"Well, you're going to have to learn to like it. You know, you can still have fun without a computer, believe it or not. You'll get to learn and experience a lot of stuff that you can't do on a computer…"

Heidi decided to try a different tactic. "But what are you going to do without me?" she said, with her biggest puppy-dog eyes.

"I'll be keeping very busy at Preventers. I'm going on an extended mission for the next two months, so I won't even be at home."

"So you're just going to send me away?"

"Heidi, it's not like you're going to prison." Hilde ran her fingers through her daughter's long, blue-black hair. "I promise it'll be fun. Liane Chang and Megan Winner are also going… won't you like that?"

"I guess," said Heidi gloomily.

"So will you go to this camp? Please? If you really hate it you'll never have to go again."

"I'll go if you really want me to, Mom."

"It'll be a great experience, I promise," said Hilde. She stood up. "Now, why don't you look through your stuff and see what you have so we can buy everything you need before you leave next week?"

"Okay." Heidi began rummaging through her closet. "Can I bring my laptop?"

"No."

"Can I bring my palm pilot?"

"No."

"Can I bring my portable vidscreen?"

"No."

"Can I bring my virtual reality headset?"

"No."

"Can I bring my—"

"NO!"

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TBC…