Chapter 6
Rinoa leads the SeeDs to a tiny, dark room at the front of the base car. Selphie picks the cobwebs off of and sits on an overturned crate, while the other three stand, with about two square feet of space to themselves. (Okay, here we go). Squall, squashes himself into a corner, as far as possible from the others and inspects the dusty floor. Finally, they feel the train jolt and start moving.
"It'll take a couple minutes for us to get up to speed. We'll have to be traveling at exactly the same rate as the presidential train…" Rinoa explains. As much as she doesn't want to admit it, she's getting nervous. Planning to kidnap the president hadn't fazed her, but jumping between moving trains was an intimidating prospect. The tiny room feels suffocating. Rinoa shifts her weight nervously, takes deep breaths. She feels like she wants to yawn or take a deep breath, but the close walls of the room are restricting her lungs. She wipes her damp palms on her duster.
Watts cracks the door to the crowded room; a shaft of light squeezes in, illuminating the unsettled dust. "We're almost tailing the train now sir!" he tells Squall, the closest to the entrance.
"Alright." Rinoa says bracingly "Let's go topside!"
She climbs the ladder, pulls a rusty latch to open the hatch in the ceiling. The wind sweeps the trapdoor open and it bangs against the roof of the car. Rinoa climbs out onto the roof, and is almost thrown backwards by the wind rushing past. Her hair and the tail of her duster blow back behind her. Selphie, Zell, and finally Squall emerge from the hatch.
As each SeeD climbs out, he is immediately hit by the rushing wind, and crawls carefully out of the car, staying low to the roof. Trees pass in a green blur to their right. The whirring of the train and the rushing wind are deafening.
Up ahead, the presidential train is backing slowly towards them on the tracks to their left. The blue and gray cars remind her of an enormous whale, approaching to swallow the Owl's tiny car. Rinoa and the three SeeDs crouch at the nose of their train as it gathers speed and slowly, draws up alongside the other. Squinting against the wind, Rinoa stands, still bending over, and waits until the fronts of the two train cars are parallel. She takes a few deep breaths, and, heart beating in her throat, leaps off the nose of the car. Time stops for a second in mid-leap, and Rinoa goes deaf to the racket around her. Briefly wondering whether she'll fall short of the train, she suddenly lands crouched near the middle of the president's escort car, the wind having carried her back several yards. Staying low to keep her balance, she crabwalks to the front of the car, where she sits and takes her pulse with her fingers. It's much faster than normal, but she doesn't feel scared anymore, now that the waiting is over.
Zell's jump is well timed, and he lands behind Rinoa. Squall almost overshoots his mark, and comes down towards the back of the train. Rinoa is amazed at the fluidity of the jumps - they suggest that Zell and Squall have been hopping between trains all their lives - until she remembers that their strength and agility are enhanced by avatars.
Selphie's leap is less successful. Instead of jumping with her feet towards the ground, she throws herself headfirst at the president's train, and almost misses. She lands crouched at the very edge of the car, but off balance so that a curve in the tracks makes her slide towards the back of the car, her legs dangling over the edge of the roof.
Squall runs, bent double, to Selphie's landing point and heaves her onto the car by her forearms. Then, seeming unfazed by her brush with death, they rejoin the Zell and Rinoa at the front of the train car.
The jump between the second escort car and the president's car is easy enough; the gap between cars is only a few feet. Though none of them can talk over the deafening wind, they follow Rinoa to the opening between the president's car and his first escort car. Rinoa directs Selphie and Zell across to the first escort car, where they lie on their stomachs above two of the train windows to act as lookouts for Squall.
"OKAY!" Rinoa screams over the wind "REMEMBER HOW WE PRACTICED?"
Squall nods and unhooks a coiled belay line from one of his belts. He wraps it around his waist and attaches the end to a clip on his climbing harness. Tossing the other end of the line to Rinoa, he settles into as sturdy a sitting position as he can, and holds the line with both hands. (This would be so much easier with better equipment. I guess you have to work with what you have. Please don't let me die, please don't let me die, please don't let me die…) Rinoa buckles the other end of the metal line to her own harness. She salutes Squall jokingly and carefully lowers herself over the end of the train.
Hanging between the two cars, Rinoa finds welcome respite from the racing wind. The window in the back door of the car is tinted, so she'll have to rely on Selphie, Zell, and Squall to warn her if a guard is coming. Sitting in the harness is a little like sitting in a chair, Rinoa speculates, as she fishes her sheet of codes out of her skirt pocket.
(Now, where is the coupling system hatch…there….no that's something else…there! Alright, it's open. Deep breath. Disable circuit…Okay, code 1: 4114…code 2…)
On the roof of the car, Squall sits with his feet bracing him against the train. Being quite a bit heavier than Rinoa, he doesn't need to brace against the force of the rope; his bodyweight is enough to keep him still.
He keeps an eye on the front of the car in case Selphie or Zell signals the approach of a guard, but the uncoupling goes off without a hitch. When she's finished with the codes, Rinoa reaches up to the overhanging roof of the car and pulls herself partway up to the roof, then adjusts her arms and pushes her body up to waist level. Sqaull reals in the slack in the line connecting them and lifts her easily over the edge of the train by her hips. Rinoa's nerves return and her pulse soars. (I'm up in the air I'm up in the air put me down put me down.) But at the same time…. (Don't put me down…)
The group gathers in the middle of the presidential car and watches as the first escort car seems to shrink away. The Forest Owls' base and dummy car slide seemlessly into the gap in the president's train. Rinoa motions everyone to put their heads together so that she can shout,
"SELPHIE, ZELL, COUPLE OUR BASE AND DELING'S CAR!" she points to the car behind them. Rinoa and Squall cross to the opposite end of the car and reattach the belaying cord to their harnesses, so that Rinoa can detach the president's car from its second escort. Rinoa drops over the side of the car as before, and this time wastes no time in finding the controls to the coupling system. She takes out her list of codes, and in her excitement, promptly drops it to the ground racing below. Praising Watts' foresight in making extra copies, Rinoa takes a spare out of her boot and begins entering codes. As she works, Rinoa replays the firm pressure of the SeeD leader's hands on her hips as he lifted her to the roof of the train. They'd had the same strength and energy they'd had during their second dance at the SeeD ball – confident hands, like Seifer's demeanor. Though Squall seems more cold and withdrawn than self-assured and passionate. When she finishes the uncoupling, Rinoa pulls herself halfway up to the roof of the president's car, and waits for Squall to help her rest of the way up.
They meet up with Selphie and Zell in the middle of the president's car, and the group quickly makes their way back to into the Owls' base. Being inside feels warm and dark, and Rinoa is a little off balance standing upright instead of bent double. Behind her, Selphie and Zell are laughing and congratulating each other. Squall is silent.
"You did it!" Zone exclaims, laughing as much with surprise as anything else as he hugs Rinoa in the entrance room. "We should be slowing down soon; this track was made to give tourists a view of the Timber forests…" Zell high-fives Selphie, while Squall rearranges his wind-whipped hair. (Kind of like a cat grooming himself.) Rinoa smiles privately.
"You guys were great!" she tells the SeeDs, her cheeks flushed and her hair tangled around her face. "Now it's only a matter of time before the president realizes he's not on the same train anymore, so we'll have to confront him soon…"
"Was that perfect, sir? Amazing, sir! You're the best, sir!" Watts tells Squall happily. Rinoa briefly wonders if they'd even needed the SeeDs, enamored as she is with her own success.
"Everyone, we'll meet at the back of the base in five minutes!" Rinoa announces, still blushing with pride and excitement.
"Finally...We've waited so long for this encounter with Vinzer." Zone says, an arm still around Rinoa's waist. Zell notices and tries to put his arm casually over Selphie's shoulders.
"Get off, you're all dirty!" she admonishes him, to everyone's amusement. That was true, Rinoa noticed. All four were covered in dirt from the roofs and disheveled from the wind.
"Hey, we can all take showers after some serious negotiations with the president!" Rinoa promises.
"'Serious negotiations'" Zell mutters to Selphie as they disperse "better bring your nunchaku."
Selphie: Rinoa was really sweet, I liked working with her. I thought Squall and Zell were cool too, though I hadn't seen much of them around garden. And Zell kept coming onto me. Anyway, we were all gross after climbing around on those dirty trains. I love trains, but I never want to do that again. I was really excited though – I follow current events enough to know that Deling's kidnapping would be in every history book that covered the decades after the Sorceress War for the next millennium. And I would be a part of it. It had been easy too, if you call jumping between the tops of trains and rappelling down the sides of them easy. Actually, security on Deling's train had been really lax. It kind of seemed too simple.
We didn't have time to clean up much before we met at the front of the train. Zell kept talking about "kicking the tyrannical bastard's ass" and Squall just kept to himself. Rinoa reminded us that Deling was unlikely to put up a fight, even if he had a bodyguard or two with him. Squall seemed to think otherwise though – he made sure Zell and I were equipped had our weapons, field items and energy to cast magic. My avatar, Siren, was talking to me too. Not literally, in words, I only call it talking. What I mean is, Siren gives me feelings and sensations and sometimes memories when she's trying to tell me something, and I'd always been able to tell when they were coming from her, even though we hadn't been junctioned as long as Squall and Zell had with their GFs.
In Trabia garden I didn't junction a GF until I was twelve, and that only lasted for a year or so. When I transferred to Balamb to take the field exam and join the SeeD program I was assigned Siren based on my "personality type" and the fact that I'm a magic specialist and all these other variables – blood type and random things like that. Traditionally, students junction for life with the first guardian force they defeat in battle, but I guess the practice is dying out now that they have all these fancy matching systems.
While we were waiting for Rinoa at the exit to the base, Siren gave me an image I'd seen in a magazine, I think it was Timber Maniacs. It was a picture of Vinzer Deling smiling and hailing the press with a raised hand. There was a caption across the bottom of the picture, and I was sure I'd read the article. As much as Siren pushed the image at me, I couldn't read the caption, or remember the article. I closed my eyes and leaned against the door so I could concentrate, and felt cold in my hands and feet, even though the car was warm.
When we stepped into the president's cabin, he was the only one there: sitting behind an expensive looking oak desk reading a magazine. The décor was pretty nice, especially compared to the Owls' cars. In addition to the desk he had a water cooler, a bookshelf, a futon, and a potted plant along the walls not taken up by a huge window with sheer curtains. Everything was decorated in a tasteful brown or black, except for the pink carpet.
The president didn't even look up when we walked in. Zell and I automatically scanned the room, and then took up positions on either side of Rinoa. Squall moved towards the desk, but Rinoa touched his arm to stop him, and crossed over to Deling herself. She sounded confident, but her hands were shaking.
"...President Deling! As long as you...don't resist, you won't get hurt..."
Deling didn's move for a moment, like he was ignoring Rinoa. Then he folded his paper and set it on the desk. He stood up and stretched for a minute, and then looked us over one at a time.
"And if I do resist...What would you do...? Young lady?" he whispered.
When he started talking I knew something was wrong. I'd seen the president speak on television. It wasn't as though I knew him personally, but this man's voice was about an octave higher than the president's on TV, and raspy, like he was losing his voice.
Rinoa must have noticed too, she looked taken aback and took a few steps away from the desk as he began to…climb over it. Deling set one polished shoe on the paper he'd been reading and brought his other leg up to meet it so that he was crouched on the desk, facing us.
"I'm not the president. I'm what they call...a body double." he said, even more quietly.
The image of the president burst into my mind, as though Siren was screaming. He was still smiling, his fake, presidential smile, his hand held aloft. Not his hand though. I could read the caption now - "Could there be Another You?" – as well as an excerpt below it I was sure I'd forgotten: "Vinzer Deling's body double, nicknamed 'Gerogero', draws the attention of the paparazzi while Deling makes a quick exit." The article was about the genetically altered employees of celebrities and politicians who imitate them to draw attention away from their employers.
Rinoa stands paralyzed in front of the crouching president. She gropes for something to say to give her the upper-hand, some kind of threat or assertion. But the president continues in a voice low enough that only Rinoa can make out,
"All these rumors about the many resistance groups in Timber...You pass along a little false information and they fall for it...How pathetic...Seems like there are only amateurs around here."
Deling takes a crouched step across the desk and leers at Rinoa. (Enough!) She gives the folded Blaster Edge at her hip a tug upwards and it comes free of its clip. She holds defensively in front of her, and the SeeDs at her sides follow her lead, realizing that the serious negotiations are over. Zell crouches in a fighter's stance, and Selphie draws her nunchaku. Squall steps behind the desk, blocking the door at the back of the car, a gun-sword hybrid drawn and held in front of him with both hands.
Though his stance is different from Seifer's, Rinoa recognizes the weapon. It's similar to the gunblade Seifer had tried to teach her to hold that summer. She had barely been able to lift it.
Deling stands on his desk and turns to face Squall, his head almost touching the ceiling. He reaches for something in his breast pocket, and then collapses, sending the potted plant on his desk crashing to the ground.
"No!" Rinoa screams, crouching in the spilled soil and leaning over the unconscious Deling. "What did you do?" she yells at Squall. Murder. Squall had just murdered Deling. For a moment, Rinoa is impressed, then shocked again. Satisfaction battles with horror in her head. She turns away from the body, feeling as though she might throw up. Someone is lifting her to her feet and guiding her to a wall.
"Rinoa, that's wasn't the president." says a high female voice. Selphie's.
She replays the last few minutes in her mind. (A…body double?) The SeeDs are talking among themselves, but Rinoa can't register anything they're saying. (How can they be so composed? We've just murdered the president. No, I mean, not the president. He's not the president. We planned this for months…)
Zell is turning over the body while Squall squats on the floor, examining a hypodermic needle.
"Did he…ya know…?" Selphie asks, drawing a finger across her throat and raising her eyebrows.
"No." Squall answers, not looking up from the needle. "That doesn't make any sense."
Sure enough, the unconscious body begins to twitch, and Squall rests the edge of his gunblade on its throat warily. The body double does not attempt to stand, though. It writhes on the ground.
Then it starts to swell. Lumps form under the cloth of its wrinkled business suit, and the back of its head distends sickeningly. The SeeDs back away, but Rinoa stands up and watches in awe as the body double rises to its knees. Its left side is swelling much more quickly that its right, and soon its left arm and leg are weighing it down on one side. It also seems to be growing taller. The cloth of its clothing strains, and finally begins to tear at the seams, first on the right, then the left. The broken bits of cloth slip to the carpet. It heaves its grotesque body around to face Rinoa.