Chapter XI
Phil looked down at his watch. 7:30. Prime Minister Attha was supposed to arrive in half-an-hour. He reached down to turn on the radio, but hesitated as he saw his ex-wife's car pull up. She got out of the and took Nikki with her, not noticing Phil's patrol car around the corner of the opposite street. He sat and waited for another ten or so minutes before he brought out his cell phone and dialed her house number. He then waited patiently as it rang.
"Hello?" she said.
"Sofie? It's Phil."
"Oh, hi Phil. What's going on?"
"Nothing, there's just something I need to talk to you about. Can you come meet me at Café' News?" he asked.
"Why can't you come over here?"
"It's just, I'd rather not have us argue in front of Nikki."
"I see. Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes." She hung up the phone and grabbed her coat. "Nikki!" she called upstairs. "I'm going out for a little while. Don't answer the door or the phone, alright?"
"Okay, mom!" shouted the youngster in reply. The woman walked out the door and began to make her way towards the sidewalk. Phil watched from his car as she placed the key in the mailbox, then made sure she was safely out of sight down the street. He then got out of his vehicle and made his to the house, grabbing the key and opening the door.
"Son? Nikki?" The colonel listened as he heard the sound feet pattering across the upstairs hallway and stop.
"Daddy!" called out the green-haired boy from the top of the stairs. He dashed down as Phil knelt down and hugged him.
"Hello son." he said as he moved Nikki away and looked over him. The boy was dressed in his ZAFT youth uniform, basically a less intricate variation of the standard green tunic. "How are you doing?"
"I'm okay."
"That's good. Now listen, Nikki, I'm going to ask you to make a very grown up decision. Do you think you can do that?" The young boy nodded his head. "Okay. Do you want to Earth with me?"
"What about mama?"
"She can't know right now, but we can tell her later we get there. Now if you want to go, you have to tell me right now." The young Zavey hesitated at first, then nodded his head up and down. "Okay. Let's go upstairs and pack."
XXXXXXX
The crowd outside the Supreme Council Chambers has swelled to about 25,000, and Miriallia found herself trying to stay on the fringes of it. She ran to where a set of bleachers had been erected and tried to get up into the stand, but was stopped by a green-uniformed guard. "I'm sorry miss, but this is for members of the press only."
"Oh, I'm with the press, I just lost my ID."
"I'm sorry, I cannot allow you in without an ID."
"Is there a problem here?" asked a mysterious, yet familiar voice. The chestnut-haired journalist turned to see the tour-guide she had met on her first day in Aprilius.
"This woman says she's with the press but she has no ID."
"We're sorry miss, but you're not allowed in the grandstand without an Identification card."
"But you know me. I was with your tour group. Miriallia, the last name's Haw." she said anxiously. The tour guide cocked her head slightly then looked over at the guard's list. She lifted a few pages before stopping then turning back to the woman.
"Ah yes, Ms. Haw. Please go right ahead." Miriallia smiled as she passed behind the guard and made her way up into the stands. As she did, the sound of police sirens began blaring. She turned and looked down from the seats to see a car driving up the red-carpeted avenue with four police motorcycles on either corner. A group of four armed guards in red uniforms stood on either side of the vehicle, halting as the car came to a stop. Miri watched as one of the guards opened the side door, and Patrick Zala stepped out. The anthem of the plants, Homeland, My Homeland, began to play, and the crowd exploded into a frenzy as he made his way, escorted, to the speaking platform in front of him. Zala turned to the crowd and raised his right hand in a salute.
"Hail!" he shouted
"Victory!" responded the crowd.
"Hail!"
"Victory!"
"Hail!"
"Victory!" The audience cheered and clapped as the chairman smiled and waved to them. They then began to quiet down as voice came over the loud speaker system.
"Attention, ladies and gentlemen. We have just received word that Prime Minister's Attha's shuttle, Unitas I, has just touched down at Gagarin National Airport." Again the crowd began to cheer and clap. All around, they waved tiny flags of Earth Alliance Blue and Zaft Green. Miriallia paused and looked down the avenue leading to the council chambers, then turned back to the grandstand. "Mike!" she shouted as she saw the man she had met on the tour sitting down.
"Miriallia!" he yelled in reply. She rushed over to him and pushed the package against him. "Miri, what's going on?"
"Mike, I need your help."
XXXXXXX
Nikki was staring out the window into the street below, as his father walked in through the door and saw there was an open suitcase on the bed. He walked forward and began opening some of Nikki's drawers, removing clothes and placing them inside. He then closed it and bent down to place his hand on his son's shoulder. "Whatcha' looking at?"
"Nothing, daddy." Phil recognized the blandness in the boy's voice as being far from his usual self.
"Nikki, what's wrong?" he asked, turning the boy and looking at him.
"I…I don't know if I want to leave." The Colonel hugged the boy.
"It's alright. I know it's hard, but you'll like it there. We'll have a nice house by the ocean. We can have a dog, and maybe even a boat." He released the boy and looked at him again, seeing his expression still hadn't changed. "Is something still wrong?"
"It's just…the Securitate daddy, they said you're sick." Phil's eye's widened. "They said they want to help you." The older Zavey's head shot towards the window as he heard the sound of a car pulling up.
"No! They've lied to you Nikki!" he shouted as he looked down to see three men emerge from a black car, one of whom he recognized to be Rau La Kreuze. He turned and picked up his son under the arms. "Now listen Nikki. You're a big boy. You have to start thinking for yourself and stop letting other people tell you what to do." He kissed his son on the forehead and set him down on the bed. "Stay here." he commanded as he un-holstered his pistol and stepped outside the room, waiting at the top of the stairs. He kneeled down and pointed his weapon at the front door waiting until the it opened. It was the man from the hotel. The agent barely had time to look before Zavey emptied a few rounds into him. The colonel waited a few moments before trotting down the stairs and checking the body. A shot rang out and pierced the policeman's thigh, causing him to yell and lurch forward in pain. He remained motionless as his would-be assassin came out of the dining room and stood over him. Almost instantly, Phil turned over and fired off a few more rounds from both his and the dead man's pistol. One of them struck the second assailant in the head, causing to rear back and blood to splatter against the ceiling. Phil brought himself to his feet and staggered out the front door into the night. A figure ran around from the backyard and turned to the inspector, shooting at him and hitting him in the right arm. Again he screamed before swinging his left arm around and emptying the rest of his magazine, six shots, into the man. He dropped, and it took a moment to register in Phil's brain that the man he had just killed was Rau La Kreuze. He paid little to it, though, as he turned around and began to limp down the sidewalk.
XXXXXXX
"Jesus Christ." said Mike as he bundled the pictures and began to run down the stand towards the avenue with Miriallia close behind. The way was blocked by guards holding ZAFT banners. Mike struggled to get his through, stopping only he saw a black car with Earth Alliance flags pull up. Four more motorcycles positioned themselves on each corner and Bodyguards in Alliance uniforms, including one he recognized to be the Earth Ambassador, began trotting next to it as the car began picking up speed. Over the speakers came the Earth Alliance anthem, O' Faded Banner of Blue. He watched as the car came closer and closer, and began shouting. "Mr. Ambassador!" he yelled as he broke through the human barrier. "Mr. Ambassador! You have to get these to the Prime Minister!". One of the bodyguards drew his pistol, but was stopped by the man Mike was shouting to. "Mr. Ambassador, you have to get these to the Prime Minister. Please, you must make sure she sees these right now." Mike watched as the ambassador nodded and opened the door to the car. Together, he and Cagalli opened the parcel and began looking at the photos. When Miriallia saw that Mike had done this, she turned and made her way out.
