I lie on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. The incident with the explosion and Athrun has shaken me up more than I'd ever admit. I keep thinking, what would have happened if Miguel and I weren't there? Would he have died before they were able to find him? And what's with the Amalfi kid? Something seems wrong about the whole situation. He just isn't the kind of person who would do things like that.

I roll over and bury my face in the pillow. Dammit! Snap out of it, Dearka. This is the real world. People die when there are wars, not just the enemy, but friends and allies too. And just because someone looks innocent, it doesn't mean they are.

"Dearka, are you alright?" It's Yzak. He presses the button that closes the door, and sits down on the bed next to mine. Hisbed.

I sit up and turn to face him, hoping that I don't look as messed up as I feel. "Yeah, fine. What's up?"

"Well…" Yzak bites his lip, as if he's unsure about where to begin. I've never seen Yzak look unsure before, he's always so angry, all the time. "I think Nicol's innocent."

What? I stare wide-eyed at Yzak. "What do you mean? How can he be innocent? What about all the evidence?"

"He was framed." Yzak tells me about how he had heard Nicol playing the piano at the time of the attack, and what he had overheard Orga say. "I only just realised. It took me so long. I've been so stupid."

"Those bastards!" I stand up angrily. "To think that they framed the poor kid."

"Getting emotional now, are you?" Yzak teases, but his heart isn't really in it. I know that deep down, he's just as upset as I am. I saw Orga, Shani and Clotho a few hours ago, strolling around in the corridors acting perfectly natural. If Yzak hadn't told me what he'd overheard, I would have suspected them. They must really think that they'd gotten away with this.

"But what I don't get," says Yzak with a frown, "is why didn't they try to get away straight after the attack."

"It would have been too suspicious," I realise. It all starts to make sense. The pieces are coming together. "Someone would have seen them leave and realised that they were responsible for all this. They wanted to make sure that everyone thought Nicol did it." Suddenly, an idea comes into my head. It's only a sneaking suspicion, but it makes sense. "I bet that they're planning to escape during Nicol's trial. Everyone will be at there, and no one will see them go. By the time someone discovers that they are gone, it will be too late."

"You mean they're making everyone attend the trial?"

"Yeah," I say bitterly, "They're trying to get a message across, I think. They're trying to make a statement. They want to make it clear to everyone that traitors will not be tolerated." Poor Nicol. I never thought I would say this, but I feel really sorry for the kid. He must be going through so much right now. And now that I know he's innocent…

I make my way to the door. "We have to tell someone!" The trial's in an hour, and if Nicol's proven to be guilty, who knows what could happen to him?" He could be put to death. Neither of us says it, but we know that it's true.

"No, Dearka, wait." Yzak grabs my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. What is he doing? We don't have the time to mess around! "No one will believe us if we tell them that Nicol's innocent now. Sure, I can tell them what I know, but without more evidence, that's not going to help anything. We need more proof."

I sigh, defeated. That's true. "Alright, then Yzak, what do you suggest we do?"

"I have a plan." Yzak looks determined. There is a spark in his icy blue eyes. "It's going to be dangerous, but what do you expect? If what you're saying is correct and they're really going to try and escape during the trial, we have to stop them. No matter what it takes. We'll follow them and try to catch them slipping up. I know those three. They'll want to brag to each other about their success. We'll record everything, so that we have proof to use during the trial. And if all else fails," Yzak lowers his voice. "We shoot them down."

The trial starts in five minutes. They're holding it in the presentation hall, so that everyone can watch it, as if it were some kind of performance. I'm really hoping that no one notices that Yzak and I are going in the opposite direction, especially not Clotho, Shani and Orga. If they suspect that we know, then it's all over. Unless we catch them unsuspecting, they're going to deny everything, and that would be no help at all. I check that I have my gun with me, feeling the reassuring bump against my leg. I'm really hoping that this doesn't resort to us using force, but that might be a bit of a tough ask.

Yzak and I have been following them for the last ten minutes, trying to act as inconspicuous as possible. So far, we've managed to stay hidden, but I can tell they are suspecting something. Shani keeps looking over his shoulder, as if he's expecting someone to be behind him. I guess we're not very good at this stealth thing. I can tell Yzak doesn't like having to follow them in silence. He's itching to get into a fight. But until we manage to get some more proof, there's no point in fighting them.

As they turn right at the end of the corridor, I suddenly realise where they're going. I catch Yzak's eyes and he nods, very slightly. He's worked it out too. They're making their way to the mobile suit hangar. They're going to escape in stolen Zakus.

Peeking out from around the corner, I see them use an ID card to open the door to the hangar. What's the bet that it's Nicol's?

We wait until they enter the room, before we creep down the corridor and wait next to the doorway, just out of sight. They left the door open. They've gotten careless, they think they've gotten away with everything. If they're going to start bragging, then now's the time.

Sure enough, I hear Shani's voice echoing around the room. "They've really got no idea, have they?" I turn on the recording device in my pocket. "They're all so stupid. Falling right into our trap. They still think that Amalfi did it."

"Coordinators," I hear Clotho say, "They think they're so much better than everyone else, but really they're all just cowardly idiots. I can't believe they think that the Amalfi kid planted the bomb. Yeah right. He never would have had the guts to do it." I hear him laugh. "Imagine the look on Athrun's face when he found out that Nicol was the one who blew him up."

Shani is typing something into a computer. "It's a shame that no one knows we did it. I want more credit for this. Hacking into the system and blowing up the academy. That takes serious skill."

"I'm glad we're leaving at last," says Clotho, "I don't think I can stand being here any longer. I hate all of them."

"Shut up!" Says Orga suddenly, and then, in a lower voice, "Someone's here."

There goes the element of surprise. Yzak and I rush out and start shooting in their direction. I aim for Orga, but he manages to duck behind the computer. My bullet hits the computer and the screen cracks. Whatever was on it goes off, leaving nothing but a blank screen. Orga curses and starts running towards one of the Zakus. I'm about to pursue him, but then a bullet wizzes past about a centimeter from my face. I spin around to see Shani half shooting, half running towards the second Zaku. I fire a round of shots at him and at least one must have hit him, because he screams in pain and turns around and starts running for the Zaku as fast as he can, clutching his shoulder.

Suddenly I hear a metallic groaning sound and see the mobile suit that Orga was aiming for run towards me at full pace. Crap. I dive off to the side, narrowly avoiding getting stepped on by the Zaku's huge metal foot. Scrambling to my feet, I retreat towards the door. Far out, where's Yzak?

There he is, trying to shoot down Clotho, who's running for the third Zaku. "Yzak! We have to retreat!" He looks up and, seeing the now-piloted Zakus, curses and starts running towards the exit.

Clotho is still trying to shoot at us, but by now we are out of range.

"Clotho!" Shani yells urgently from inside the cockpit, "Forget about them! We have to get away." Clotho fires a few more shots in our direction, before turning around and getting into the third Zaku.

In a fit of desperation, Yzak ducks back into the room and shoots at the general direction of the traitors. "Yzak!" I pull him back. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Yzak glares at me. "But we can't just let them get away!"

I grab onto Yzak's shoulders and shake him. "Yzak, there's brave, and then there's just stupid. It's pointless. There's no way we'd be able to stop them without getting shot down ourselves. They're too far out of range, and we can't get any closer without risking our lives. There's nothing we can do now, and you know it."

Plus, they're in mobile suits and we are unprotected. They could squash us as easily as squashing an ant. We don't stand a chance against them now.

We are unable to do anything but watch as the three of them escape in the stolen Zakus. I know what Yzak is thinking. He thinks we should each take one of the remaining mobile suits and attack them in space. I shake my head at him. Don't even think about it. If we go after them, we'll never be able to get back to the trial in time.

Yzak punches the wall. Hard. Ouch, that looks like it hurt. "Dammit! Damn it all!"

"Hey, at least we've got the evidence we need." I take out the recording tape from my pocket and wave it in Yzak's face. "Come on, let's get back to the trial. We can still save Nicol."