Chapter VII

"So whatcha' got for me?" asked Phil as he approached Dearka, who was heavily engrossed in his paperwork. The Colonel had startled his fellow officer and Dearka twitched before looking up at his colleague.

"Here." said the blonde haired officer as he reached over to the edge of his desk and picked up a black folder labeled Norton, Zaccarias H. Zavey grabbed it from his hand and opened the front cover. "Did you look over?"

"No, I pulled it up pretty late last night."

"Ah." replied Phil. He placed one leg on the edge of Dearka's desk and seated himself. He then began to read aloud the information contained within. "Let's see, General Zaccarias Norton. Early supporter of Zala during the first elections to the Supreme Council…..served as Council Secretary under Zala for eight years until becoming head of the…." Phil paused and looked at the text strangely. "…head of the Committee for Natural Resettlement."

"Ahh," said Dearka. "So he was the one in charge of deporting the naturals."

"It would appear so." What Dearka was speaking of was the natural minority that had lived in the colonies prior to the war. They were a small group, only about two-million, but Zala had had all of them resettled on Earth during the war. "Great, so now we've got some political big-wig on our hands." The colonel read on further. "Forced retirement due to ailing health caused by bronchitis."

A young officer approached the pair and looked at Zavey. "Sir?"

Phil looked up at the young man. "Yes?" he replied.

"General Waltfeld says he wants to talk to you sir." Phil lifted his leg from the desk and closed the report, stuffing it under his arm. "I'll hold onto this for right now." Dearka nodded and returned to his work.

Phil approached the door to Waltfeld's officer with a somewhat laid back feeling. When he stepped in, he was greeted by a sight that seemed odd to him. The general had no paperwork out in front of him, nor was he behind his desk. He was simply leaning back against his desk with his palms resting on the edge. "You wanted to see me sir?" said Phil somewhat weakly.

"Yes." said the general as he raised a finger and pointed it at the now surprised colonel. He walked over past Zavey and closed the door, then stepped over to a large rectangular shaped object covered by a tarp, which Zavey had failed to notice. Waltfeld peeled it off and revealed a large canvas painting of a rather majestic looking man on horseback, his hand raised and his horse standing on hind legs. "Do you know what this is?" he asked. Zavey craned his head a little and said nothing, remembering back to his days at the academy and the arts course he had taken his senior year.

"Napoleon in Egypt, sir?"

"That's right." replied Waltfeld. "Just a small piece of Norton's collection that we found at his home yesterday. Apparently he had a taste for fine art." The general walked back in front of Phil and began to pace. "So, he needs to have it moved someplace safe because the Securitate are catching on. He makes plans to move it to earth, someplace in the United States." Andrew stopped and leaned back against desk again. "But before he can, the Securitate halt his first shipment. He realizes it's too late now, and so to save himself the dishonor of being labeled a common thief, he drowns himself." He smiled as he watched it sink into Zavey's mind.

Zavey jerked his jaw a little to the side. "Sir, I was just reading this report." Phil withdrew the folder from under his arm. "According to this, Norton had bronchitis. Now, it doesn't make much sense to me why a 70-something year old retired ZAFT General with such an ailment would walk a mile, naked, to a small lake, in the rain, just to kill himself." The general's smile dissipated as he approached Phil and stood to one side.

"Listen, Phil. This case has been declared state security, and is being handled by the Securitate. This is our official conclusion, and I don't want you looking any further into it. You can't afford to have an enemy like La Kreuze….or me."

XXXXXXX

Miriallia approached the front door of the apartment building that occupied 1984 Klauson Plaza and banged the knocker a few times. When no one came, she turned to the doorbell and rang it. A few moments later, a tall, dark haired man in a suit and trench-coat opened the door just enough for him to peek out at the brown-haired women.

"Hello. I'm here to see General Rykiel?" replied Ms. Haw weakly. The man's expression did not change. He opened door all the way and ushered her in. "General Rykiel is in apartment 5B on the third floor."

"Thank you." Miriallia turned and walked towards the elevators. When she stepped in and turned around, she was unnerved to see the way the man was still looking at her. She shrugged it off when she stepped out of the sliding doors and began walking down the hallway towards 5B. She knocked on the door and waited. There was no reply. She knocked again and spoke this time. "Hello? General Rykiel?" she said. When there was still no reply, she tried the door, finding that it was unlocked. She cautiously stepped in and looked around at the luxurious apartment. There was a complete breakfast tray, completely untouched. Miri found this odd, but continued to look around. "General Rykiel?" she called again as she slowly opened the door to what she thought was the bedroom. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped when she was greeted with the sight of a naked elderly man and younger red-headed woman, both lying pale on the bed with bullet holes in them. The man had a pistol clutched in tightly in his hands. Ms. Haw couldn't bring herself to scream, but as she staggered back, she knocked over the breakfast tray, alerting the tenants next door.

XXXXXXX

When Phil sat back down at his desk, he leaned back in his chair, his mouth open slightly and his left hand rubbing his chin. He loosened his tie a little and then leaned forward and placed reached for a pen from the cup on the corner. Fuck it he thought. If the state wants to deal with it, let em.' He sighed and then began searching his drawers for a pad of paper. Dearka approached his desk and sat on the corner. "Hey Phil, the OF just brought in a woman who says she found two bodies in some apartment building downtown. You want to take her?"

Phil stood up and straightened his tie. "Yeah, I'll take her." He then began walking towards the elevators.

"Wait!" yelled Dearka. "Where's the file?" Zavey said nothing and simply pointed in the direction of Waltfeld's office.

XXXXXXX

Miri rocked back and forth in her chair, making a creaking sound that somewhat annoyed the officer in charge of her. She was looking at a newspaper, on the front page of which was a huge headline ATTHA ARRIVES IN TOMORROW. "It's good news." said Miriallia. The guard looked up. "About the meeting with the Prime Minister." The guard said nothing and returned to her paper. A few minutes later, Phil walked in through the door.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." he said. The guard stood up and left. "This should only take a few minutes."

"Alright." She replied.

"Now, why did you want to see this General Rykiel?"

"He was an early supporter of Zala, and my editor wanted to get his reaction on the visit from the Prime Minister."

"I see. And when were you suppose to go and visit him."

"Around 11:00."

"I see…now tell me something else. Why are you lying to me?"


OF- Orderly Force. The ZAFT military police are broken down into three branches:

At the bottom is the OF. These are the regular cops on the street. They arrest the drunkards, write the speeding tickets, and nab the pickpockets.

Above the OF is the CF or Criminal Force. These are the uniformed detectives who investigate murders, robberies, arson, etc. This would be the branch Colonel Zavey is a part of.

At the top is the Securitate. They handle all cases of sedition, terrorism, and anything that is declared state security. Because they do not have great manpower, the Securitate often employ the OF and CF to carry out their orders.