Athrun leaned on the boardwalk railing and gazed out at the ocean. The water was slightly white capped because of a light off shore breeze, but the waves were nothing special, barely big enough to body surf on. Of course, he was no great judge of waves, as even the largest lakes in the PLANTS never really had waves even half the size of the ones he could see now. With so little gravitational pull from the moon, there were no tides in the PLANTS, and hardly any bodies of water large enough to have them anyway.
"I see why they call it the Pacific." He muttered unconsciously. "It's about the most peaceful thing I've seen in a long time." Not like his feelings, no not at all. Inside he was a raging tempest. Anger, determination, frustration, fear, shame, love, guilt, sadness and a dozen more besides, all warring for his attention. Sometimes his head hurt so much under the internal pressure all he wanted to do was either go kick a hole in the nearest wall or beat his brains out on the nearest table, just to relieve a bit of the stress. Of course, neither of those ideas was practical in the current sitatuion, so Athrun just stuffed the feelings back down inside him, to wait for a later opportunity to jump back up and renew their incessant gnawing at his soul.
"Appearances are deceiving." Cagalli replied from next to him. Unlike Athrun, she was not looking at the ocean; rather she was studying the crowds of people that slowly meandered their way past the couple's post on the railing. Having grown up in Orb, an island nation, Cagalli didn't really notice the ocean very much, except during periods of exceptional agitation or calm. When you looked out of your bedroom window every day and saw the ocean, it became more background than anything else. It was like space, for Athrun. Growing up on the PLANTS, he saw space all the time. It was nothing special to him. It was just a constant presence. But for Cagalli, space was still quite new and exciting, despite several long trips in it. "You should see it during a storm. We sometimes get a storm surge of ten or twelve feet during a rough storm. We'd be underwater right now, as a way of reference."
"Oh, did I say that out loud?"
"Yeah. Bit distracted, eh? You don't usually talk to yourself. Anymore, anyway."
"Now that I've got you to talk to, you're right. And I am a bit distracted, more than a bit really. I feel fit to burst. I don't know what it is; I never felt this way before, even during the most confused times, back when I was fighting Kira in space."
"That's not good. If YOU'RE at a loss, then what strong pillar of wisdom do I have to go to in my times of need?"
"I thought we had a mutual agreement. Something about me not always having to shoulder the burden or something? I can't always be the strong one."
"Ain't that the truth! Of course, I seem to be able to call to mind quite a few times when you haven't been the strong one." Cagalli said with a small chuckle. Athrun joined after a moment.
"Very true. If I worried about such things, my masculine pride would no doubt be seriously dented right now." Athrun continued staring out to sea. "So what are you looking at?" he asked a moment later.
"Everyone seems so happy and carefree here. It's hard to believe that a major battle was fought not too far from here less than a year ago, judging from how people are acting. Given the rather dire straits I know Orb to be in… leaderless… economically unstable… a political pariah… militarily weak… given all that, I'm surprised at how calm everyone is." Cagalli replied. "And that's not even going into the recent nuclear attack on Pearl Harbor and Frost's assault on Junius Six."
"Yeah, that's true. Given Orb's mix of Coordinator's and Natural's, you'd think there would be quite a bit of tension going around, especially amongst the younger people. But I don't sense any particular tension at all." Athrun said. Cagalli didn't say anything for several moments. "Still there?" Athrun prompted.
"Y-yeah."
Athrun turned at her distracted reply. "See something?"
"Yeah. Not something I thought I'd see here, given recent events. An Atlantic Federation ambassadorial limousine, complete with what looked like an entourage of government issue SUV's. I thought the Atlantic Federation had severed all diplomatic ties with Orb after Blue Cosmos's little bombshell at our expense."
"Shh… not so loud with those little details, love. Blue Cosmos hasn't done anything to Aaron and Cindy." Athrun whispered under his breath. "You're right though. I thought I heard that same thing. I wonder why the Atlantic Federation is here, now of all times."
"Maybe we can get Alkire and company to find out. After they find out everything else of course." Cagalli said with a heavy sigh.
"I'm frustrated too." Athrun replied.
"Yeah, I just don't like relying so much on others. I don't like feeling helpless."
"We only have to put up with it for a little while longer. And then, once we locate our friend, we'll be only a few hours from getting the resources we need to make a real difference. Then it'll be Alkire and company who are relying on us. That'll feel pretty good, after months of relying on them."
"True that. Let's go somewhere. I'm getting restless." Cagalli said suddenly.
"Where?" Athrun asked.
"Anywhere. Nowhere. Somewhere."
"Thank's for being specific. This is your home after all. I thought you might have had a specific destination in mind."
"Well, technically this isn't my home. My home is a good fifty miles away from here, on the other side of the island. I don't think I've ever even been to this city in particular; I spent most of my time either at home, school or Morganroete." Cagalli replied.
"Gee, and I thought I was sheltered. Shows what I know."
"Shut up. You're the one with the brochure, go look something up." Cagalli demanded, blushing slightly.
"Nah, I got a better idea. I remember reading somewhere that there are tours given of a certain residence on the other side of the island every four hours on certain days of the week, like this one. I think we should go do that. It should be a lot of fun." Athrun said brightly. Cagalli frowned, her mind taking a moment to shift through what she knew of tourist locations on the far side of the island.
"I don't know of any place like tha… hold it!" she cried. People turned and looked at her and Cagalli blushed again. She burrowed closer to Athrun who was smiling beautifically. "Are you INSANE?" she grated out in a fierce whisper. "You want to go take a tour of my HOUSE? Why don't we just go turn ourselves in to the police right now?"
"Oh hush, no one will recognize us with these disguises. Besides, I really am curious about your house. When last I was here, there was never any time for sightseeing, and you and I had yet to grow so close as for it to be proper for me to ask."
"Why are you curious about my house?" Cagalli asked as Athrun put in a quick
call to a local taxi service.
"Well for one thing, I'd like to see your room. Maybe it'll give me some insight into you."
"You mean you need more insight into my psyche?" Cagalli said dangerously.
"One can never have enough insight. Especially when dealing with someone as volatile as you on an intimate level."
"Volatile? What are you trying to say?" Cagalli said, her voice turning sweet and kindly. This put Athrun immediately on guard. Whenever Cagalli turned sweet, it usually meant she was about to attempt physical action of some sort sure to be painful in the short term, though frequently quite rewarding in the longer term. However, in the middle of a public beach boardwalk was hardly the place for that.
"Do you deny being volatile? How many times have you punched Kira or shot me or… need I go on?" Athrun said with a wide smile that he knew would bug her to her core.
"You just won't that incident in the cave go, will you? You never hear me complaining about how you tied me up and left me in that tidal pool, do you?"
"Only when you get angry."
"Shut up."
"Oh, that was creative. I can't think of a comeback for that one, oh no."
"You are deliberately provoking me, aren't you? You think you're safe, out here in public. We'll you're wrong. I'm not going to get angry. I'm not going to get flustered. You want to tour my house, fine, let's go."
"I love you when you're confrontational. Sure there's nothing in your room that'll be embarrassing? Stuffed animals, ridiculous dresses, pictures of childhood idols?"
"I won't let you get to me. I know what you're up to. I'm going to do the noble thing and rise above this pettiness." Cagalli said primly. And wreak bloody vengeance later. She promised herself. The taxi pulled up then and she and Athrun piled in, shooting each other intense glares and secret smug smiles that had their driver twitching nervously before they'd even left the beach area.
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"Thank you very much, comrade." Vlad said as the man with the bright red shirt with lime green palm trees on it disappeared into the depths of the alley, happily ruffling through a wad of bills the size of a monkey's fist. Clad himself in a shirt of only slightly less eye smarting hue, a dark blue shirt with neon orange suns, Vlad turned and walked back to the street the alley stood off of.
"Learn anything?" Alkire asked casually from his spot, leaning against a brick wall to the side of the alley mouth. Alkire was dressed in light grey cotton slacks, with a loose white silk shirt with the top three buttons unbuttoned and the cuffs open and rolled back to the elbows. A pair of small blue round sunglasses with gold frames settled over his eyes and an expensive cigarette hung from one corner of his mouth. For the day's intelligence gathering, Alkire's hair had been dyed strawberry blond and a false scar added along his jaw line.
"Why do you always get to be the suavely dressed guy? Why am I the one stuck in this…" Vlad struggled for words, indicating his long sleeved Hawaiian shirt and ever present heavy gloves. "… abortion of clothing style? I mean, I'm the only man with sleeves on the block, and nobody has had gloves but me all day long. I feel like some kind of mole-freak, who's been living under a rock for the past ten years and has only recently come out into the sunlight."
"Calm down, Vlad. We can't all be super sexy super spies like me. Besides, you've got the whole 'style of my own' thing going for you. Here, have a smoke. It'll make you feel better." Alkire said, pulling the pack of cigarette's from his pocket. Vlad quickly accepted one of the white paper sticks. Alkire lit it off his own cigarette and both men stood there for a moment, looking all the world like two eccentric friends out for a stroll in the summer sun. Of course, the cigarettes weren't just normal smokes; they had very tiny filtration devices built into the filter section, which completely screened out the smoke generated by the tobacco. They were one of many fine touches to Alkire's disguise repertoire, cigarettes that smelled and looked real, and even smoked real, but that didn't have any of the health risks of actual cigarettes.
"Ah, that's the stuff." Vlad said, feigning deep pleasure as he took a deep breath of filtered pure air. He and Alkire walked for almost a block before he spoke again. "Bleak Mountain Prison. Not the actual name, but that's what everyone calls it. Up near the center of the island. Lot of relatively recent volcanism in the area, lots of bare rock, thus the name. The only maximum security prison in all of Orb. Actually run by a subdivision of the military police. Not too many inmates, only a few old mass murderers and two or three crime bosses. Orb really is a peaceful and well ordered place, in the great scope of things."
"Pretty detailed." Alkire noted as they passed a hotdog vendor. "Hold on a bit." Alkire said, before ordering a foot long chili dog lathered in spicy sauce and onions.
"How can you stand to eat such a thing in this heat?" Vlad wondered.
"Armmph. I don't know what you mean. It's not that hot out. Only eighty or so." Alkire said after taking a large bite.
"Only eighty degrees Fahrenheit? Only. Huh, where I lived, at this time of year, we'd be lucky not to have three feet of snow already on the ground, with a wind chill factor of minus three." Vlad replied. They moved out of earshot of the hotdog vendor. "Kisaka is in cell one-nine-six-two, block delta, sub level three. About as far inside the bulk of the prison as it is possible to get. Someone doesn't want him to get out of there."
"Mmrrmph." Alkire nodded for Vlad to continue, chewing on his chili dog all the while.
"Security forces run to fifty guards, military police for all practical purposes. The post is considered something of a cushy one, so I doubt there'll be too many of the rough edged problematic types, but there's bound to be a few hot shots there. They've also got dogs, camera drones, fixed camera's, laser and infared alarm systems, spotlights galore, decentralized computer system, randomly shifting watch periods and ten meter tall reinforced concrete walls topped with electrified razor wire, which seems a bit redundant to me. To top it all off, there is an emergency response unit from the Orb Special Forces on constant alert standby, armed with military grade weapons and equipped with several all terrain high-speed combat transports."
"In short, it's a pretty well defended place." Alkire summed up.
"Yeah… I'd give it about a six point five out of ten."
"That's pretty good, by your scale."
"Shouldn't take more than twenty minutes, with the proper preparations. That's assuming a team of me, you and Victor, with Raine and James as cover and emergency extraction. My contact was kind enough to hand over a disk with complete schematics of the prison, including ventilation, electrical and safety systems."
"The kids are gonna want to come along. Mrs. and Mr. Z for sure, maybe Mr. K, Mr. Y, Mr. D and Ms. K and C as well." Alkire pointed out. Vlad pondered that for a long moment.
"Must we take them? It'd be a lot easier if they just waited with the car."
"If we try to leave the Z's out of the loop again we'll all wake up with bullets in our brainpans. How long with the untrained help?"
"Forty five minutes at least. A, Y and D may have done special ops work before, at Heliopolis, but that was nothing to breaking into a max security prison to break out a high profile prisoner. Plus a large group runs that much greater risk of being spotted and is much harder to extract if things go south."
"I know that as well as you, Vlad. But we're just going to have to deal with it."
"Fine. But I don't want to hear any complaining if we all get private cells next to Kisaka in cell block delta to enjoy for the next several decades." Vlad sulked.
"Oh, don't be so pessimistic. We've never been caught before, have we?" Alkire said gaily. He paused. "Well… not been caught for longer than a week, okay."
"I was going to say…" Vlad said, having been able to call to mind at least a dozen occasions before that clarification. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. My contact mentioned something else of interest in passing. Apparently some Atlantic Federation bigwig is due to give some sort of rally speech before the Orb high council in a couple of hours. The whole nation is abuzz about it apparently. Ever since the AF cut off diplomatic ties due to Blue Cosmos's little stunt, Orb's been floundering in the world political arena. Many are hoping that this speech will announce a renewing of diplomatic recognition between Orb and the AF."
"That is pretty big. Your man say who the speaker is?"
"He didn't know any more than it was somebody on the war council. Of course, that's some serious political firepower right there no matter who it is."
"We'll have to tune in to the news tonight. Sounds like it might actually be something worth listening too. But for the moment, let's go have a drink and then let's head back to the hotel and do some preliminary planning from these schematics you have." Alkire suggested. Vlad nodded agreement before leading the way unerringly to the nearest bar.
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"Why am I here? I HATE Orb." Frost complained for perhaps the thirteenth time. Asmodeus had joined him at the rendezvous point ten miles from Orb's territorial waters only ten minutes prior, and the BCPU had done nothing but mope and complain the entire time.
"Shut the hell up, Frost. I don't need this from you right now. I've slept three hours in the past fifty hours and I'm fed up to here with EVERYONE right now." Asmodeus snapped, wearily rubbing at his eyes inside the cockpit of the Purifier, which was hovering on autopilot about half a mile away from the Fury.
"Ooo… scary. I'm trembling, captain, can't you tell?" Frost mocked. Asmodeus killed the communication channel and leaned back in his chair and groaned. It had been a long flight, even with the autopilot. The Purifier wasn't designed for long distance high speed travel in atmosphere and Asmodeus was hardly the young man he had once been. Coming off the long research binge he'd been on, a ten hour seat of the pants flight at near sonic speeds across the Pacific Ocean had not done him a lot of good. He'd certainly regret this for the next week or so. And now, this verbal sparring with the infuriating Frost was close to pushing him over the edge. The remote self detonation switch for the Fury was starting to look mighty tempting. Asmodeus shook his head and pulled his mind out of the realm of fantasy. Curse it, but Frost was essential to the plans he and Cervantes had for the next few months.
Asmodeus re-opened the communication channel. "Let's get this over with. I'm not any more pleased to be here than you are. The rally begins in fifteen minutes; we should just barely be able to make it. I've got the leading elements of the occupation fleet on my sensors, they're right on schedule. They should arrive about halfway through the speech, just as planned. All Cervantes and I need you to do, Frost, is follow me down when I make my entrance and to be silent. You just have to look impressive. I'll do all the talking. Do not say ANYTHING, that is a direct order. And don't kill anyone, either. Not even by accident. If you're lucky, you'll get an opportunity to do some killing later… if this goes well."
"Whatever." Frost sighed, sounding extremely put upon. Asmodeus closed the channel and gunned his boosters, leaving a bright trail of exhaust sparks behind him as he accelerated to cruising speed and plotted in his course for the Orb council building. Frost fell in behind him as smoothly as a shark gliding after prey.