"It's amazing how fast you guys put all this together. We've barely been in Orb for a day and a half!" Ysak commented, shaking his head carefully at all the equipment piled in the rented mountain house's garage. He was shaking his head carefully because it still throbbed with pain at every little movement, a legacy from Cagalli's unexpectedly well aimed throwing arm from late last night.
"They don't pay us to be slow." James replied. "Though even I'll say, this was a pretty bang up job." He finished coiling a spool of nylon climbing rope.
"Do we really need all of this to break into prison?" Dearka asked. He stared at the sets of climbing gear, rope, crowbars, chemical explosives, guns, ammo crates, knives, gas masks and night camouflage uniforms.
"Hopefully not. Gas masks are a pain in the ass. Of course, poison gas is considerably worse, but I'd prefer not to have either." James answered, dusting his hands off.
"Orb doesn't use poison gas." Dearka pointed out.
"Tear gas is plenty poisonous. That stuff sucks. You have no idea how much until you eat a full meal and then get locked in a room full of it for two hours. Trust me, that ain't fun." James retorted,
"Why would someone do that?" Ysak asked.
"Training. Acclimatization. You gotta be able to keep mobile and alert, even if you do get gassed. We go through that little workshop at least once a year, to keep ourselves current. Don't tell me you guys didn't have a confidence chamber run at basic training?"
"A what?" Dearka asked.
"They never gassed you?"
"No. They were more concerned with getting us on the battlefield as quickly as possible. The war was already on at the time." Ysak replied.
"Oh man, you missed out. It's great. Everyone goes coughing and choking and puking all over the place, eyes watering, ropes of snot hanging from your nose. One of those memories everyone looks back on with fondness."
"Why is it called a confidence chamber though?" Ysak queried.
"Because everyone is standing in ranks in this airtight room, and they have you put gas masks on while the room fills with tear gas. Then, one row at a time you remove your gas masks and say your name, ident number and recruit division number one at a time before you can leave. Takes a lot of self confidence to take off your gas mask after seeing what it does to the people in front of you."
"That's horrible. Sounds more like ritual masochism to me." Dearka said.
"Many people think that… until they get gassed in the field, after which they're quite thankful for the extra experience." James informed them. "Well, if you're done learning about tear gas, why don't you guys get the hell out of this house."
"What?" Ysak said sharply.
"You heard me. Shoo. Leave. Git! We won't be mounting the operation for another eight hours or so. Last thing we commandos need is a bunch of curious kids hanging around the place, bored as hell."
"But there's nothing to do! We're in the mountains, surrounded by wilderness." Dearka protested.
"Hah! Shows what you know. Go talk to Athrun and Cagalli. They should have gotten the details from Vlad by now."
"Do we have to talk to Cagalli?" Ysak muttered as he and Dearka left the garage.
"It's your own fault. That was a fabulously mistimed comment, even for you." Dearka sniggered. "You're just lucky she didn't have a knife or a gun."
"No, girls with knives and guns would be yours and Athrun's departments, after all." Ysak said with a smile.
"What are you saying?"
"Well, I have yet to be either stabbed or shot by my girlfriends. That puts me pretty far ahead of the two of you."
"There were extenuating circumstances, in both cases…"
Ysak enjoyed a laugh at his friend's expense, even though it made his head ache abominably. It was such a rare pleasure that not even pain could hold it back. It didn't take long to find Athrun and Cagalli. They were clustered with the rest of the teenagers around the large van Alkire had rented to move everyone from the hotel to this house.
"'Bout time you got here, we were just about to leave. Your bag is all packed." Miriallia said, slipping her arms around Dearka from behind.
"Ooo, really? Leave where and what bag?" he replied, leaning back into her.
"Hot springs resort…"
"… and your swimming stuff and clothes, of course." Katie and Chanel answered, from where they were greeting Ysak.
"There's a hot springs around here?" Ysak asked.
"Orb is an island nation, volcanic in origin." Cagalli said coolly, plainly still a little upset at Ysak.
"Thank you, Ms. Zala, I never would have noticed without your aid." Ysak shot back sarcastically.
"X-nay on the names thing-nay." Dearka stage whispered. Ysak glared at him.
"There's no one around. It doesn't matter."
"Yeah, go to tell that to Alkire. He'll probably sneak up on you with a sedative and lock you in an iron box for a few hours." Athrun put in.
"You're really sore about that, aren't you?" Kira asked. Athrun looked at him.
"No… not at all." He replied, dripping sarcasm.
"All right, all right, that's enough. Let's stop this before we get into a fist fight." Cagalli said, stepping into the conversation. "We're all a little tense. Some of us more than a little." She said, looking sheepishly at the large white bandage plastered to the side of Athrun's head, just above his right ear. "I figure a nice soak in some hot water; a little steam bathing and all will do us all a load of good. Get us all relaxed after last night's excitement. We're going to need to be calm and collected for the prison break in."
"Yeah, good idea." Lacus chimed in. Kira looked at the van.
"So, who's driving?" he asked. There was a long silence. Athrun tentatively raised his hand.
"I'll drive."
"Personally I'd like to arrive in one piece." Ysak declared.
"Are you saying I'm a bad driver?"
"Are you saying you're a good one? Face it; you've never driven anything remotely like this van before." Ysak argued.
"I'm open to suggestions then. Would you like to drive? You've never been in control of a real car before in your life, have you?" Athrun replied.
"Are you saying I can't do it? You've done it, and there's nothing you can do that I can't!" Ysak declared.
"Oh my god. What an opening, what an opening! Paste him good for me, Athrun." Dearka chuckled.
Athrun seemed willing to oblige. Kira had noticed that his friend seemed to be in a much nastier and more confrontational mood ever since last night. Not that he could blame him, really. "Oh, I can think of quite a number of thing's I've done you can't do." Athrun said calmly.
"Like what!" Ysak demanded. Athrun flicked his eyes at Cagalli, so rapidly that only a Coordinator was likely to see.
"I can't talk about it in public." Athrun replied with a smile. Ysak went even whiter than usual.
"That's not fair! That's out of bounds!" he snarled. "That's totally uncalled for!"
"You asked. Are you going to deny I'm right? Or have you been up to more than I can account for?"
Dearka was laughing so hard he was nearly bent double. "That's harsh, even to do to Ysak."
"Maybe Ysak will learn to be more circumspect when he issues a challenge then." Athrun replied, with little sympathy.
"Wait a minute. Are you saying I CAN'T do those things?" Ysak growled. Athrun turned back to him.
"Well, I wasn't going to bring genetics into it, but if you insist..."
"Woah, woah… that's going a bit far." Kira tried to cut in. Ysak was speechless. All the girls seemed to be enjoying the verbal sparring, having not really caught that last remark, perhaps not realizing how close Ysak was to attacking Athrun and vice versa.
"That is the last straw. You're lucky we need you, or I'd call you out right now!" Ysak hissed.
"What's stopping you? Or are you afraid to embarrass yourself?" Athrun retorted.
"Athrun!" Kira said, startled. Athrun blinked and seemed to collect himself.
"I take that back. I'm more than a little stressed out at present. Let's get down to the hotsprings. Who's driving now?"
Kira sighed. "I'll drive. Everybody get in so we can get down there."
-------------------------------------
The van ride was noisy. Ysak and Dearka were going at it loud enough to nearly distract Kira. Which resulted in the van nearly taking a shortcut down the side of the mountain more than a few times, though Kira did his best not to let on to that fact to avoid worrying Lacus and everyone else. The van handled a lot worse than Alkire's custom made Ferrari, that was for sure. Still, through dint of superior reflexes and Lacus's impeccable navigation, Kira managed to make it to the hot springs complex after only half an hour… about fifteen minutes longer than it should have taken him. But the important thing was that everyone was alive… even if Athrun and Ysak still seemed fit to kill each other at the drop of a hat. They were separated with difficulty by their respective feminine partners and hustled into the hot springs complex.
The complex consisted of a hexagonal array of large stone buildings containing individual indoor hot springs, steam baths and massage parlors, suitable for small groups of people. Meanwhile, the area between the six buildings was given over entirely to a large hot spring, more a large pool, for public bathing. The hotter springs were found in the buildings, while the outdoor pool was only as warm as bathwater. Since it was still early march, which was autumn for Orb, the place wasn't very crowded, not more than a dozen guests and half again as many attendants in the whole place. The interior pools and steam baths were strictly gender separated, but the outdoor pool was mixed gender. Everyone agreed to go off for a few hours of individual time before getting back together for an hour or two in the communal pool just before leaving.
It wasn't long after the various teenagers disappeared into the building that a government issue black SUV pulled up to the hot springs complex. Three men got out. All were dressed in causal-formal wear, long sleeved collared shirts and grey slacks. Two of the men were younger, in their mid twenties, while the third was older, in his forties, though a great deal of stress had marked his face and turned his hair prematurely grey. "I'll be back to pick you up in three hours, Captain." The driver of the car said smartly.
Asmodeus nodded a weary acknowledgement. He'd gotten some sleep, but not as much as he'd needed. It had been barely six hours after he closed his eyes that he had been woken up again, by what he wasn't sure. He had just felt extremely restless. Unable to go back to sleep, he had finally decided that he needed some help winding down after his long research project and had enquired among the members of the Hellhounds stationed as Cervantes's security detail what there was to do in the area. Upon learning of the hot springs, Asmodeus knew that was just what he needed to calm himself down.
A long soak in hundred plus degree water would rejuvenate him for the next week or so. It wasn't too long a drive, no more than an hour from the government center where Cervantes and he had been staying, coordinating the activities of the "relief forces" as they moved throughout orb, helping with distributing supplies and beginning with reconstruction. The Earth Forces soldiers were wildly popular. They practically could not buy food or drink; it was given to them by the pound by the grateful populace. Of course, the soldiers were on orders to pay anyway, because of the positive image that generated and to help revive Orb's mauled economy.
After talking with Cervantes and making sure his schedule was clear for a while, Asmodeus had requisitioned the SUV and taken two members of the Hellhounds along for security purposes. Asmodeus was perfectly capable of handling himself, but he was ever cautious. All three men were armed, with pistols, but Asmodeus did not consider it at all likely they would ever have to use them. Especially given how popular ANY member of the Earth Forces currently was.
"Been a while since I was last at a hot springs." One of the Hellhounds, Corporal Dyre, said casually. He was the man that Cervantes had questioned the previous morning about Orb politics.
"Too long." Asmodeus agreed. "Let's go." He led the way into the resort.
"Hello sir." The desk attendant said brightly. She was surprised; there weren't usually so many customers during the off season. Just a few minutes before a whole gaggle of teenage tourists had came in, and now this group of three men, probably a father and his two grown sons, she judged with her experienced eye. Though there was little familial resemblance between them, so maybe it was a business meeting of some sort. "How can I help you?" she asked.
The older man, the one with the grey hair and well styled black mustachios, stepped forward. Care lines were worn deep into his face around his eyes. He looked permanently weary, like he was constantly weighed down by the burdens of an entire world. Other than his hair and posture, there wasn't much else to the man. He was of average height, average weight, average build. Indeed, the attendant found herself almost unable to get a clear look at the man, there was no strong reference point on the man to hook her attention to. "I'd like to rent one of your small hot pools for an hour or so. And then a steam room, and a massage after that." The man said, staring at her. It wasn't until then that she noticed his eyes, pale, ice blue orbs that seemed to freeze the very air between them.
"Of course, sir." The attendant replied quickly, covering up her initial reaction, that of nervousness. Those eyes made her uncomfortable. She told herself not to judge people by their appearances and to get on with business. "Will your friends be joining you?"
The icy eyed man half turned back to his friends. Some sort of unseen signal must have passed between them because they didn't say anything and he turned back to the attendant. "They'll be joining me for the steam room."
"Very good, sir. Pool number eighteen is open and secluded; it's in building five, just across the main lagoon area. The steam room is right next door, towels can be found in lockers at both locations. Come back to this front desk when you want your massage." The attendant said after a few moments checking.
"Thank you, miss." The icy eyed man said with a slight nod of his head. He turned and moved off towards building five, his two friends falling in to either side of him with almost military precision.
--------------------------------------------------
Kira let out a slight moan of contentment. The hot water felt wonderful. He was almost fully submerged in one of private hot springs, in building four of the resort complex. He hadn't fully realized how tense he'd been, until the water started to sooth his muscles. Now, about forty minutes later, he had moved to cooler pools twice, finding the searing deep heat of the first several pools to be too much to endure for long. Plus, it had quickly separated him from the tangled knot of Athrun, Ysak and Dearka. Athrun was in a touchy mood, and Ysak and Dearka had homed in on that like sharks drawn to bloody water. Ysak because he had always nursed a slight inferiority complex towards Athrun, from what Kira had seen and Dearka just because he was always up for teasing people. They'd been squabbling almost constantly since they had arrived at the hot springs, though luckily now it was more just verbal sparring rather than the near blows it had been up at the rented mountain lodge.
Still, Kira hadn't needed to be around that much discord, even supposedly friendly discord, any longer than necessary. Lacus would be proud of me, no doubt, distancing myself from such a potential disaster. She always does worry so much about what might trigger an episode of depression or melancholy in me. Of course, it would be better if I could have convinced everyone to get along, but that's not going to happen. Of course, Kira hadn't been depressed or melancholy in a long time, not since before Athrun's proposal to Cagalli anyway. Since then, he'd been much too busy to spare time for the self introspection and guilt that usually put him in a bad mood. Plus, he hadn't had to do any fighting since the woods at Vanai's Mansion. That was enough by itself to lift his spirits. He loathed fighting, and unfortunately knew that there was a very great likelihood that he'd be doing quite a bit more of it in the future.
"Assuming we find out where our mobile suits are. If there even are any. For all I know, Kisaka might have scrapped them all after GENESIS." He mumbled out loud. That's not very likely though. Kisaka was always a careful person, who took responsibility enormously seriously. He's probably had everyone's mobile suits rebuilt and tuned up at the least, if not totally redesigned. Which was a nice thought; though Kira wished it wasn't so prophetic. If he could, he'd have ditched the Freedom into the sun at the first opportunity, but now it looked like a good thing he hadn't had that opportunity, because his power was going to be needed again shortly. Hard to believe I was just your average student a little more than a year ago, content with the way my life was going, not having to worry about much more than when the next batch of computer simulations were due. I wonder what I of then would think of me of now if we were ever to meet. Well, doubtless I'd be polite, but would I be envious of myself? And in which way?
"Well, obviously I wouldn't want to give up Lacus." Kira said out loud. "And my renewed friendship with Athrun either." Though both had come at costs I never wanted to pay. And neither did Athrun. Nicole, the pianist I never knew. Tolle, my best friend and Miriallia's heart. Flay… well, there's a lot to Flay. Yeah. Nothing in life is free, but my costs seem to have been particularly heavy. "I could toss the whole mobile suit pilot thing right out the window without a second's hesitation though." Kira said, aloud once more. "I never wanted to pilot war machines, especially against the PLANTS." Of course, now I wonder if I'll ever be able to give it up. It's a skill for which I have enormous talent. If I'd gone to the PLANTS earlier, like Athrun did, I might have become a soldier like him. Things would have turned out just a little differently then. Kira smiled at that understatement. The Earth would probably be a radioactive wasteland. Or maybe I would have helped win the war before the GENESIS became necessary. It's impossible to say. Especially with Rau Le Cresuet. That psycho would have eventually managed to figure some way to destroy the world, even if the PLANTS already had won the war.
"Second guessing myself isn't going to doing anything constructive." Kira decided. His back was starting to tense up again. It was time to migrate back to a hotter pool. But he didn't want to go back to the three way war between Dearka, Ysak and Athrun. "I'll go next door then. The other building shouldn't be too crowded." Kira rose out of the pool and picked up his towel to cover himself. He grabbed his bag of clothes, which also had his swimsuit in it. For the individual bathing, swimsuits weren't required, as they were more like actual baths than a swimming pool. Of course, for later, he'd definitely want a swimsuit, to avoid causing a great deal of embarrassment for all concerned. Kira pushed open the door to the pool he had formerly been in and stepped out into the hall. The sounds of feminine giggles stopped him cold. They were muffled, and coming out of a door just down the hall, prominently marked "Female Baths." For reasons Kira was unable to fathom, there was a large window in the middle of each door to the private pools.
The fastest route to the next building over was past that doorway. "I will not look." Kira muttered to himself. Why did you feel the need to say that?" his subconscious replied immediately. Unless you wanted to look. Kira shook his head slightly and headed down the hall, eyes forward. You know you want to sneak a peek. "I don't". You do. "Why would I need to?" Kira blushed. "I wouldn't see anything I hadn't seen before." That doesn't matter. You haven't seen anything for the past few days. You're getting desperate. You're even talking to yourself. Kira was unable to think of a reply for that and wasn't even sure he should reply at all. By this time he was almost level with the door. A fresh spate of giggles could be easily heard.
"What are they talking about that's so funny?" Kira mumbled. Wouldn't you like to know? They're probably talking about you. You should look in and find out for sure. "No. Now what am I talking to?" Your long repressed mischievous side. I'm also the part of you that determines when you get horny. And believe me, your getting really horny. Kira was unable to deny the truth of that, he was glad for the towel. Still, he had long ago mastered the art of self control, even if recent circumstances had sorely tested that ability. He walked quickly past the door and window with his eyes turned resolutely to the far wall. Weakling! Sissy! Prude! His subconscious mocked him. "This just proves I need help. My own mind is making fun of me." Kira whispered, smiling. He suffered no further problems on his way into building five.
"Steambath eighteen." The sign said. "A steam bath sounds really good. I've never actually tried one of those, but I've heard they're a great way to relieve aches and pains." Kira said to no one in particular. I'm going to have to watch myself. Talking to yourself is okay in small amounts, but I've been doing it constantly. It'll make Lacus worry more, and that's the last thing I want. Kira pushed open the door to the darkened room and was closing the door behind him before he realized it was occupied. The steam room was made entirely of wood, with a low ceiling and a very dim light set into the far wall for the sole source of illumination. Steam spiraled throughout the room, curling up from a steel pot filled with dimly glowing coals in the center of the room. The steam made the room even darker than it would have otherwise been, obscuring the light.
"Oh, excuse me." Kira said, finally noticing the three men already inside the small room. They were seated on benches across from the doorway, on the other side of the pot of coals. Two of them were staring at him in an unfriendly fashion, while the third, who was older, was leaning back with his eyes closed. Kira started to open the door again.
"Keep it closed. You'll let all the steam out." The older man said suddenly, his eyes still shut.
"But, sir." One of the unfriendly younger men whispered.
"There's plenty of room, Dyre. As long as its just one kid it's not likely to get too rowdy." The older man cut him off. "Sit down, kid."
"Okay." Kira replied, sitting down on a bench near the door. It was almost impossible to make out more than the vague shapes of the three men through the darkness and swirling steam. As Kira watched, the silent younger man picked up a small bucket of scented water which he then sprinkled onto the coals, generating a new burst of steam. Long minutes passed in silence. Sweat was trickling profusely down Kira's skin. It was hot in the room and the steam only made it seem hotter. He didn't know how much longer he could take it.
"First time in a steam bath?" the older man inquired suddenly. Kira sensed that he was the subject of the inquiry.
"Yes. I'd heard they were good for aches and pains and getting rid of your worries for a time." He replied.
"True enough, though a young man like you will want to watch how long you spend in here. The steam'll dry you out fast and people have been known to collapse from heat stroke or dehydration if they aren't careful. It helps to take slow, deep breaths. Panting like you were doing will just dry you out faster." The older man advised.
"Thank you." Kira said.
"No problem. Though tell me, what worries weigh you down? You sound like you're barely old enough to be out of high school." The man asked. Kira debated how to answer that. He could hardly blurt out the truth, that he was soon to participate in a risky jailbreak to free a friend of his sister's so he could recover his Mobile Suit so he could stop the brewing war and give Blue Cosmos a beating they wouldn't soon forget.
"Just current world events. This whole thing with the government and the attacks on Junius Six and Pearl Harbor." Kira replied, sure that that was a reasonably safe thing to say.
"You support the old Orb government?" the man asked neutrally.
"I believe in Regent Kisaka and Cagalli, yes." Kira replied instantly. This generated a few surprised grunts from the three men.
"That's an interesting position." The older man said, he sounded amused. "It seemed reasonably clear to me that ex-regent Kisaka and the so called daughter of Nara Attha were corrupt officials using the good name of Orb for their own selfish agendas. Or didn't you hear about that?"
"I heard it, I just don't believe it."
"Why not? Do you know them? Have a personal acquaintance with them? You one of Yula Attha's earlier boyfriends?" the older man chuckled as if that was funny.
I'm her older brother actually. Kira thought grimly. "No, no nothing like that. But Ms. Cagalli and Regent Kisaka did so much for Orb during the last war. They fought for us on the front lines and sacrificed a lot to preserve Orb. I think the least we can do in return is give them a little credit, a chance to explain themselves and the accusations leveled against them."
"What about the tape of her fucking Athrun Zala? You want them to explain that too? How did you feel when you saw that one, boy?" Dyre asked suddenly.
"I nearly had a heart attack." Kira responded, which was quite true. He still had to consciously steer his mind around recalling those images. "And then I became very angry." An understatement. I could have torn the man responsible in half right then and there, with no regrets. "How could anyone do something so horrible to a young girl and the man she obviously loves, people who gave their all for the peace process?"
"You have a very noble spirit." The older man said after a pause. "Naïve… but noble as well. "Did you not hear Chairman Zunnichi's speech last night? The document that proves the perfidy of Ms. Yula Attha and Athrun Zala is widely available on the internet. Besides, with regard to that tape, the public has a right to know what their leaders are up to. How can trust be founded between nations, something necessary for lasting peace, when the people of the host nation, Orb, can't even trust their own leaders to behave responsibly? They weren't even lawfully married and they are both still several years too young for them to be having carnal relations at all!"
"They're hardly the only teenagers who had sex before they turned eighteen and I heard they were betrothed." Kira said, blushing and turning his head slightly. The older man chuckled and Dyre actually laughed out loud.
"Betrothed? Fiancee's? Well, who made that decision? They are below the age of consent, and Zala's parents are both dead as are Ms. Yula Attha's, both her adopted parents and her real ones. Regent Kisaka never made any public announcement about Yula Attha being engaged to Zala and Zala's remaining family in the PLANTS remained silent as well. Besides all of that though, both of them come from important families. Yula Attha is a head of state and Zala is an important member of the ZAFT military! They can't just go around, having these little trysts. People like them don't get to have as free a life as people like you, because of their responsibilities." The older man said, leaning forward now.
"You are right, kid, that sex between people under the age of eighteen and out of wedlock isn't nearly as uncommon as it should be… you've indulged yourself, obviously… but it is a much worse thing for people as important as Yula Attha and Zala to be caught doing it than it would be for you. National leaders are supposed to follow all the rules religiously and Yula Attha's little romance broke a lot of rules. And when you break rules, you get punished. Unfortunately, Yula Attha's breach of the rules also destabilized the peace conferences and trashed her nations… your nations… reputation world wide. A lot of people find it highly suspicious that Zala, a Coordinator and highly placed member of ZAFT, just happened to be living it up with your government head while she pushed for peace with the PLANTS."
"I still refuse to believe that Cagalli had anything but the best interests of the entire world at heart." Kira replied.
"That is your privilege, of course. Orb is still a free country, at the moment." The older man said. "Of course, even if she did, that might have been as fatal a flaw as only having her own interests at heart."
"What?" Kira asked, confused.
"Dyre, explain to the young man. I'm going for another soak." The older man said tiredly.
"Yes sir. Blake, accompany the Captain and stand watch until I'm done." Dyre replied.
"Yes, corporal." The heretofore silent younger man said, standing up and following behind the older man, the one addressed as "Captain", out of the steam room. Dyre waited for the door to shut before turning to the kid. The kid was staring at him, which Dyre didn't like. He expected respect, god damn it and this kid hadn't been very respectful towards Captain Asmodeus, a man that Dyre had nothing but the highest respect for.
"Okay kid, listen up and listen well, because I'm not as tolerant as the Captain." Dyre said. "I'm only going to explain this once."
"All right." Kira replied, easily able to sense the hostility the other man had for him.
"The reason Yula Attha would be equally screwed if she had only the best interests of the world at heart vs only her own self interest at heart is that she's the goddamn ruler of Orb. The ruler of a nation isn't supposed to have the best interests of the world in mind. They're supposed to have their own NATION'S best interests in mind. It's little wonder that Orb was in such a state of decay, if she and Kisaka were worried about the world rather than their own homes!" Dyre explained forcefully.
"But without having the interests of the world in mind, how can peace ever come about? If all the nations are worried only about themselves, then how can they ever work together to forge a lasting peace?" Kira shot back.
"Welcome to real life, kid. It sucks. There aren't any easy answers. No fairy tale kings and queens and knights all working together for the common good. Every man is out for his own self and every woman too. The only way anything gets done is when someone strong comes through and forces everyone to do what needs to be done. Politics is a knife fight and a damned bloody one too. If Orb doesn't have leader's who'll be competitive, then Orb needs new leaders before it gets pulled under the ever rising tide. It's not a problem any more, now that Mr. Zunnichi is in charge and Orb has joined the Earth Alliance. Orb is going to be strong again, stronger than it ever was before. You should be thankful that Mr. Zunnichi came along when he did, because otherwise all of Orb would have eventually gone the way of Heliopolis!" Dyre replied, standing up. "Don't bother the Captain again. If I see you hanging around this building after I count to ten, I'm going to blow your dick off." He produced a shiny black automatic pistol from underneath his towel. Kira froze.
"Get moving. I'm not fucking around." Dyre warned. "And if you go for the cops… well, the cops aren't going to arrest me or the Captain. We're saviors, along with the rest of the Earth Alliance relief forces. If you go for the cops I'll track you down and blow your dick off later, understand? One."
Kira lurched to his feet, judging distances. Dyre stood about eight feet away, pistol already pointed at him. Kira was off balance from surprise and feeling more than a little light headed from the heat and all the steam. Even with poor visibility, Kira doubted that Dyre would miss at such close range. Especially if the man was a soldier.
"Two." Dyre continued. Kira grabbed his towel and bolted out the door. Dyre started laughing behind him as Kira hustled out of building five and back into building four.
----------------------------------------
"You're in an awful rush." Dearka noted casually as Kira stormed through the door back into building four. Kira skidded on wet feet and nearly fell down. He looked back through the glass door at building five. Nobody had followed him. It had just been a scare tactic. One that had worked, but just a scare tactic. "You look pale. Everything all right?"
Someone just threatened to castrate me with a gun and I had to listen to several men piss all over Cagalli and Athrun's names without saying a single word in their defense. Is it any wonder than I'm surprised, scared and ticked off? I'm surprised I'm not as red as a tomato from anger, because I certainly feel mad enough to boil lead. Kira thought. "Just not used to the steam baths. I'm a little light headed."
"Yeah, you have to be careful. You should get something to drink, to replace all the fluid you sweated out." Dearka replied.
"What are you doing out here, Dearka?" Kira suddenly thought to ask. Dearka looked away.
"Uhmmm… well, you see…" he said slowly. Kira's eyes caught on something else.
"Is that a camera?" Kira said, pointing. Dearka looked at the disposable camera he had bought in the resort gift store a few minutes prior, which he was holding in his hand, half hidden behind his back.
"By god, it is." Dearka said, trying to sound surprised.
"Why do you have a camera? And where are Athrun and Ysak?"
"Well, Athrun and Ysak eventually got tired of insulting each other and they went to separate buildings to pout and sulk, I think. That left me with nothing to do. So I thought I might pick up a camera, take a few pictures, to commemorate the trip."
"Really? Can I see what pictures you took?" Kira asked, a suspicion growing in his mind. They were standing barely fifteen feet from the door to the private girl's pool. Dearka smiled nervously. Kira's suspicion grew stronger.
"Well… actually…" Dearka suddenly bolted for the door. "I'm sorry. I won't look at Lacus's!" Dearka threw open the door and pounded outside. Kira was less than a second behind him. Dearka was making a beeline for building five.
"Dearka! Don't go in there! Don't go in there!" Kira cried. Dearka ignored him, sprinting full out for the doorway. Kira skidded to a halt, Dyre and his gun and his threat still quite fresh in his memory. Kira wondered if Dyre had finished counting to ten yet. It hadn't been that long. Dearka reached the door comfortably ahead of Kira and threw the glass door open without a second thought. Dearka disappeared inside. Kira halted a few feet from the door and tried to decide what to do.
Seconds ticked by as Kira weighed the wisdom of just letting Dearka go free, vs the embarrassment and who knows what that would result from those pictures being developed and the certain knowledge that there was at least one unfriendly man with a gun and a will to use it in the building with Dearka, and that man did not like teenagers. Kira would never forgive himself if Dearka got shot. The decision was taken out of Kira's hands an instant later. A gunshot rang out from inside building five. Kira pounced forward and yanked open the door. Dearka was lying on the carpet floor of the hallway about twenty feet in. Dyre was standing over him, gun in his hand and pointed at Dearka's face. Dearka was unharmed, but the camera with his ill gotten pictures in it was scattered all over the hallway, the unlucky victim of Dyre's shot.
Dyre looked at Kira and his eyes widened. The gun started to come up. Just then, the older man burst out of the door leading to pool eighteen. His ice blue eyes took in the scene with a glance. "Put the god damn gun up, Dyre. You shaved a year off my life, firing in here."
"But sir… he had a camera!"
"It's a fucking resort, corporal! Tourists have cameras!" the older man said. He studied Dearka. "At least the kid's unharmed, though you probably scared his hair white." The man glared at Dyre until Dyre put the gun away at his side.
"What the hell?" Dearka sputtered, finally regaining verbal control.
"All right, look. No harm's been done, despite my over eager friend here. I'm sorry your camera was destroyed, but better that than your head. We're going to leave, and I'll speak with the hostess about paying for your time here. And a replacement camera. That sound acceptable?" the older man said. Kira nodded, as did Dearka. They didn't really have any idea what was going on, but the older man seemed almost nervous.
"This your friend?" the older man asked Kira, indicating Dearka. Kira nodded, not trusting his voice. The man helped Dearka to his feet and handed him his towel back. The man then disappeared back into the pool area, returning very quickly with a bundle of clothes. "Come on, Dyre. You've ruined my vacation, so its time to get back to work."
"But sir… I was just…"
"Shut up, Dyre. You're in deep enough shit as it is."
"Yes, sir." Dyre sent Kira and Dearka a look of venomous hatred, that made Kira decide that he'd rather not end up alone with the man any time in the near future. Dyre and the older man stalked off, heading back towards the front desk.
"My camera!" Dearka said sorrowfully, looking at the scattered pieces. "I had such wonderful pictures in there!"
"It's for the best. I would have told Miriallia and she would have… well, I'm sure you know better than me." Kira replied. Dearka shuddered.
"Ugh. You always have to say such horrible things. I'd prefer to be skinned alive. Wait… you said you WOULD HAVE… does that mean you won't now?" Dearka asked.
"Well… the camera is destroyed. And if you don't mention anything to Lacus about that man with the gun, I'd call us even." Kira replied uncomfortably.
"That's right! You warned me not to go in here! You knew that psycho with the gun was in here, didn't you?" Dearka leapt on this crumb of salvation.
"Sort of, yeah. He had just finished telling me to get out before I ran into you. Apparently he thought I was disturbing his boss, the guy with the blue eyes. They're part of the EA military, I'm pretty sure."
"I don't know if we're even. I could have gotten killed." Dearka said with a glint in his eye.
"I could also tell Athrun and Ysak you were peeping at their girlfriends. Worse, I could tell Vlad you were taking nude pictures of Katie and Chanel." Kira shot back. Dearka paled.
"We're even. Dead, totally, completely even. There is absolutely no need to bring Athrun, Ysak or especially Vlad into this."
"I agree. So let's go back and do our collective best to forget all about this. It's nearly time to rendezvous in the main pool anyway."