Within twenty-four hours of Heero's request for verification, a video call arrived from Une, which could leave no question as to the authenticity of the order to reconvene. Heero had been seated at his old, customary position on the bridge, taking his turn to monitor the space in proximity to the ship when the call came in to his personal box. It startled him very slightly. When he saw its sender, however, he grabbed for his headset and opened it at once.

"Heero, good to see your face." Une's voice crackled fuzzy through his headphones, and her face appeared on the monitor before him, occasionally distorted with static. Interference kept the transmission from flawlessness, but it was enough. "Do you copy?"

"I copy," Heero replied. He felt too stupefied by the fact that he'd received the transmission to say much else.

"I'm surprised this transmission made it through," Une continued. "How is the quality?"

"Terrible," Heero said, "but it'll do."

He could see Une faintly smiling through the static. "Good," she said. "I'm calling today to offer you verification of the orders I sent out to you, per your request, and to address the many concerns you must have."

Heero nodded, his mind flooding with questions. "Roger."

Une continued. "You know already that you're set to rendezvous at coordinates 425.22, 500.12, 128.46 on January the third. Do you copy, sir?"

"Roger."

"If you're worried about security, we will have at least one Preventer warship in the vicinity, and backup provided by the ESUN military's Air and Space Force."

Heero rolled his eyes. "That's going to be a problem."

"Ah, you must not have heard the news. The ASF is clean as of last week. We retrieved a database twenty-eight days ago that outlined personnel involved in the insurgency who were enlisted in the Air and Space Force. They've been detained, and the remaining forces sworn back in. New oversight was put into place while commanding officers are investigated. I hope that alleviates some of your concern."

"Who is outstanding?"

"Chuck Benning," Une replied flatly. "Hasn't been on grid in months. He was being covered for by a number of ranked officials. James O'Keefe bailed out on the day we cracked the database and has been AWOL ever since. Otherwise, there are about two hundred fifty soldiers left unaccounted for if we base our knowledge on interrogation and concrete evidence."

Heero nodded. "Fair enough. What course would you recommend to bring us into boundary? Howard wants to bring the whole Peacemillion back in as long as there is adequate cover for us. Supplies are low, personnel is pitiful-you know it's just us? He dismissed nonessential personnel way the hell back in August. We won't be able to withstand any real trouble on reentry."

"I'll send a recommended course," Une said. "The whole ship ought to be clear for entry, but I'll double check. Above all things, the Union's concern is chiefly for Secretary General Peacecraft, and Preventer's HQ just wants our men back. Rest assured, Mr. First Gentleman, the safety of your crew is the highest priority."

"Drop the formality," Heero ordered.

"Apologies. I just want you to know we're serious about the matter at hand. You'll be safe."

Heero nodded his accord. "As a matter of course this transmission was recorded. Have I got your permission to rebroadcast to the rest of the crew?"

Une nodded, and then said in afterthought, "Permission granted, for the record. Over and out."

"Wait!" Heero cried, leaning toward the monitors. "Wait!"

Une peered into the camera confusedly. "Sir?"

"What news have you got on Maxwell?"

Une shook her head, looking somewhat downcast. "None. Not recently anyway. Last I knew a bulletin was posted to all branches to be on the lookout for him, not for any arrest or anything but because the Earth Sphere United Nations Council wanted to question him."

"The council?" Heero asked incredulously. "Relena's council?"

"That's the one, sir. But that's all the details I've heard from anything official."

"Anything unofficial?"

"Not recently. Which is to say he was on every news outlet available for three or four weeks," Une explained. "I was personally very interested in what was happening with him, what with his bold declarations of independence and all the random political ramblings. It all seemed a little out of character. But those transmissions dropped off a while back and nobody's heard anything from him since L4 clusters began declaring." Une paused and appeared to be looking at a point off camera. She continued in a slow and thoughtful voice. "Now, there have been reports of some attacks on military transports and facilities, but no mobile suits have been seen and no evidence has pointed at a suspect. If it's Duo, he's laying low, but with all the unrest in the colonies nobody could really say for sure if it's him. I know I wouldn't be comfortable making such a claim."

Heero cursed. "He's been dark on our side, too. Was hoping maybe someone with better connections might have some news."

"Unfortunately not, sir. Now I've managed to get your contact information I'll continue to send updates, if you'd like?"

"Please do," Heero required.

"Copy. I'll send updates when I receive them myself. We'll look for you at those coordinates in about a week, sir. We'll be happy to have you all back home."

"Roger. Heero out."

And then Heero closed the transmission and reclined in his chair, his hands folded behind his head. He blew a deep sigh and stared at his now blank monitor. He'd have to call another meeting, which would certainly not go over well, but at least this time he would have good news to convey straight from the source.

More, with this verification from Une, things would be busy again. Someone would have to take the initiative in planning for reentry and delegating tasks to maximize safety. Heero imagined he'd be volunteered for the task though he did not feel particularly keen on it. As for Maxwell? Heero supposed the only course of action would be to reenter per Une's direction and issue a broadcast for him to see on his own time. Perhaps if Duo knew that things seemed, at least for the time being, to be returning to normal he might venture back toward home.

Heero only hoped Duo was still alive.

ф

As soon as Heero replayed Une's video call for the rest of the Peacemillion crew, things moved quickly. With assistance from Trowa and Wufei, both of whom seemed more than anxious to be away from the warship, their present coordinates were calculated and a course was set to bring the great warship in line with Une's plan for reentry. Howard, Quatre, and Milliardo worked to engage some of the defensive weapons systems, including a number of anti-aircraft drones and ion cannons which could be deployed straight from the bridge. Other weapons systems were brought online to protect the ship's extremities from the wings.

Howard had taken it upon himself to assign shifts and tasks for each member of the crew outside of weapons preparation, during which they would monitor the bridge and watch for activity on the radar systems, perform general maintenance and upkeep for the neglected portions of the enormous ship, or make certain that all systems were engaged and prepared in the event something went wrong. He delegated tasks based on his perception of each member's strengths, and all took their assignment in stride.

The mood among all could be described as genial, if nothing else, with fewer squabbles and snaps between them. Within thirty-two hours, Heero noted that along with the shift rotation and regular scheduling of duties, the rest seemed better rested and alert, with higher levels of energy and resolve to fix problems as they rose. Howard had built in time to relax, and it certainly showed. If nothing else, the old man knew what he was doing.

Updates came rolling in from Une almost as soon as Heero had ended the transmission. Everything from polished news reports to raw video footage, full-length written articles to op-ed pieces flooded the inbox, and Heero viewed them all with scrutiny. None of the pieces contained any new information, much to Heero's dismay, but each of them did corroborate one or more of the things that Heero already knew or had at the very least surmised: Fighting continued, though outright war had not yet been declared between the Earth Sphere and the colonies; the mobile suits that Maxwell had fought against in his initial skirmish had been outfitted with the same cockpit system that Maxwell had fallen victim to in captivity, which was what had prompted the thorough infiltration of the Air and Space Force; pilots linked to the insurgency within the military tested positive for Quell. All of this had been reported in tones of complete scandal.

Less harsh, however, were pieces detailing the status of himself and Relena, or pieces that focused on the character of anyone involved on their end of the situation. Where months ago news rags had lambasted Heero for punching James O'Keefe outside the courtroom, all of them now labeled him as a proper hero for putting the Corporal in his place. Relena continued to be portrayed in positive light. Two pieces had run on Noin and Milliardo, one of which praised them for their return to Earth space and expressed hopes that the Sanc Kingdom might be reestablished, and the other one which lavishly complimented Noin on her testimony in the courtroom.

The columns about Duo were both numerous and lengthy. While some investigated his admittedly mysterious past, drawing upon the public record he had so adamantly insisted upon at trial, others forgave him outright for the detonation of M-204, citing the revelations made by the military investigation. Conservative publications railed Maxwell for his radical values, for brainwashing colonists into declaring independence without truly understanding what it took to govern and control a population so large.

Still more columns speculated on the future of the colonies now independence had been declared, and many of them maintained an investigative tone. Most kept to the facts, detailing the remarks of each colonial council regarding the future, and most councils agreed that the independent colonies would form some kind of coalition similar to that of the Earth Sphere. Some had even begun meetings, a move Heero considered bold given the recent violence and current state of upheaval.

Most of his browsing Heero did from the bridge, where he sat watching the radars for incoming ships and the communications logs for incoming transmissions. The job was leisurely and allowed him the silence that he needed, a solitary space far away from the bustle of the rest of the ship and its crew. Here, he could think. He could address his doubts.

For a brief time after Une's transmission, Heero had allowed himself to relax, confident in the notion that he and the Peacemillion crew would be well cared for by the ESUN armed forces. In those few hours Heero believed they would be safe, even when he considered the poor job their military protectors had done the last time the lot of them touched down on Earth. But the longer he thought on it and the more time he spent mulling over the patterns, the less certain Heero became about the idea.

In fact, now he thought on it, every time since the colonial explosion that he'd or the crew had placed themselves in someone else's care, something had gone wrong. He and Relena had been hounded by the press too fiercely; Maxwell had been mobbed and he, Heero, superficially wounded on their way in to trial; Maxwell had been attacked at the military base; and to top the whole thing off, some poor, now-dead lackey had attempted assassination. No, Heero concluded, he would not feel safe until he'd arranged things for himself, until he'd set up a contingency plan to work alongside Une's preparations.

When Heero returned to his quarters that evening he did so with purpose, and even as Relena lay reading in the bed he began rifling through the closets and the drawers to produce four handguns and assorted ammunitions, the cases for which he tossed gently onto the foot of the bed.

"What exactly are you doing?" Relena asked, a bemused and slightly skeptical tone to her voice.

"Planning," Heero replied vaguely, his head in the closet.

"Planning..." Relena's voice trailed off, and Heero remained silent. "A war? An occupation? An assassination?"

"Don't talk about that kind of thing," Heero snapped, wrenching a fifth box from the closet, and then a sixth. An edge of anger sharpened his voice.

"How many guns do you have stockpiled?"

"Enough."

Relena closed her book now and folded her hands in her lap, and Heero could feel her cold gaze on his back. He turned around and stacked the two boxes on the others, then plopped down beside them at the foot of the bed without addressing her gaze. Heero already knew her opinions about his arsenal. He didn't feel the need to ask.

"Look at me and tell me what exactly you're doing."

Relena had developed a tone over the last months which, when used, left little room for argument. Heero wondered if she had been colluding with Noin. But still, he looked at her squarely and heaved a deep breath before saying, "I don't trust that Une's plan is going to go safely. And even if we reenter boundary without incident, what happens when or if we touch down on Earth? What happens if there's a plant on her ship? What happens if we're overrun?"

"So you're arming yourself to avoid...?"

"I'm arming myself—and you and Zechs and Noin and everyone who I can possibly arm—to protect us from another McCarthy incident. We've had enough injury and near death in the last few months to last...Well...A lifetime. And for my part, I'm sick of it."

"I thought you were done with violence?"

Heero shook his head firmly. "Never said I was done with violence," he said. "Don't recall that at all, in fact. I do remember saying that I was done killing people. I didn't say anything about kneecaps."

Relena frowned, and Heero could tell that her brain was filling back up with pacifistic rhetoric. It was one thing he disliked about her: In the absence of immediate threat, her idealism took over.

"I don't care if you don't like the idea," Heero said, heading her off before she could argue. "You can object all you want, and I recognize and respect that, but don't you dare expect me to let you get hurt just because you refuse to pull a trigger."

Heero spoke with finality, and Relena fell into silence while he continued working, opening each case to examine the state of its contents. He glanced up at her occasionally and tried to read the passive expression on her face. She looked interested, but there was a hurt in her eyes.

After all was said and done, Heero lamented how few firearms he had kept, especially now he would need to outfit a sizeable crew. For himself and Relena six guns was more than plenty; for the Peacemillion's security, it was not nearly enough.