Things Are Not as They Seem2
The Year was After Colony 200
Man Kind has lived peacefully, under the support of Preventers and The Earth Sphere Unified Nation, led by Relena Darlian.
Chapter Two:
I wasn't sure at first what Trowa meant when he said he needed a partner. Well on my way to L3 he was kind enough to fill me in. So there was an organization in the L3 area that may or may not be trying to start making their own mobile suits. I just couldn't believe this, after years of peace, after we worked so hard on getting it some ass hole was gonna try and start another one? Well not on my watch they aint.
"Not much is known of where they hold their base of operations or if they are bringing in neo titanium or any other metal for that matter," Trowa said as he looked over the folder once more. I leaned back in my chair and shook my head.
"I'd know if someone was buyin Gundanium, with the sweepers and the scrap yard bein in L2, its hard to buy or sell any metal with out me or Hilde knowin," I said to the video screen.
"So it's not gundams, it could be mobile suits or dolls, I know you aren't the only scavenger out in space," Trowa replied to me.
"Yeah and I'm not that happy neither," I replied and shrugged a shoulder. "So what we go in check it out and then defuse the situation…"
"Une wants us to see what the situation is and get as much information as possible," Trowa turned away from the video feed. I wasn't too thrilled with helping Une, but she did allow me free reign over all the scrap in space so I'd do her a few favors to keep her happy. "ETA seven hours."
"I'm almost there buddy," I informed him. "I'll secure us a location and call where." At his nod I disconnected the call.
"This is Duo asking for docking instructions," he said once he was in range of the colony. He watched as lights came on some of the massive docking bays.
"Hello Duo, head towards dock 3," came the reply of a female attendant.
"Thank you," Duo said and got to work on docking his small shuttle. Grabbing his bag, his cap and sunglasses he left the docking bay. He still had to find a place to stay in the colony. Looking around he didn't want anything too close to the shuttle bay, they tended to be more expensive. He didn't want to spend too much of the preventer's money.
I look at Duo from the screen; his grinning face takes up most of the view. I can tell he's trying to get something out of him and I am of half a mind to humor him. "Its about 3 kilometers from dock 3," Duo said. "It's called the Third Apple." Odd name for a hotel I thought as Duo was playing with the number three. I wondered if the owners thought of this as well.
"Stay low, provisions?" I asked him.
"Yep, coffee, food, soda, water, food," Duo said as he listened them off with his fingers.
"Real food I hope," I replied.
"You think I eat nothin but junk too?" Duo crossed his arms and turned his head away from me. "Just so ya know, I aint half bad a cook when I wanna be, I did live by myself for quite awhile after all. Not only that, I had ta do something on the Sweepers ship when I was younger."
"I thought that was where you gained your mechanic skills," I replied.
"Well yeah, but I had ta do other things," he replied and then sat down again. "I did some snooping Tro. Nothin big." He waved his hand off as I crossed my arms and closed my eyes to listen. "The colony is quiet. Not like the silence quiet, but ya know how colonies have this hum about them ta tell that their alive?" I hummed for him to continue. "The air and everythins workin for as I can see. Haveta go into the colony ta know more, but I mean its quiet. Like the colony is putting its power somewhere it aint supposeta."
I haven't filled him in completely yet, but I had planned on it when I get to L3. "I'll be there in about four hours, don't do snooping around until I fill you in."
Four hours has never felt so long for Duo as he sat flipping through the channels of the television. He was laying on one of the beds, he stopped at a cartoon and watched it for a moment and then flipped it to the news.
"I hope to have the resource satellite operating within the next year. I am working with the Sweepers and Oh-Two Scrap on clearing space for the satellite. Construction of RS II will start sometime next week," Quatre said to the microphone. Duo stood watching him. "Are you aiming to help the colonist of the L2 cluster by building this satellite?" asked a reporter. "Not just them but all the colonies, I aim to work with the Sweepers, Preventers, the Earth Sphere Unified Nation, Oh-Two Scrap and the Winner Corporation to make the colonies a safer place to live." Quature said.
"You go Quat," Duo said to the screen as the blond haired ex-pilot took to answering more questions. Duo walked into the small kitchenette and poured himself a cup of coffee before walked back towards the television. Quatre was now talking about the design of the satellite as pictures came up behind him and he explained the functions of them. Duo sat down one of the beds and took a long drink of his coffee. He stopped paying attention to the screen in front of him instead listening to the noise outside the window. People walking around talking, chattering to themselves. Some of them had fought in the war; others had not and were safe from everything. This is what he and the other fought so hard to get.
There was a soft knock, once at the door. Duo walked over and opened it. Trowa stepped inside and looked around the room.
"Hey Tro," Duo said. Trowa turned his head to him and nodded once in greeting. "Already swept the place once," Duo informed him as he took another drink of the coffee. Trowa sat his two bags down and started to do his own sweep of the area. Checking for bugs of any kind. "Television's clean." Duo said, Trowa stopped and looked at him. Duo shrugged his shoulder. "Not as hard as a shuttle engine."
When Trowa was finished with his sweep he took out a folder and sat it in front of Duo at the little table. Duo opened it up.
"Preventers got a rumor that someone was attempting to build a mobile suit a year ago. Preventer agents Wufei and Kelly brought the man in after finding evidence of this rumor being true," Trowa said. Duo looked over the reports of this case. "The man after spending the year in prison for his crime died, before he did though he told the guard that his son would make sure he was avenged." Duo turned a few pages. "We had done research of this man and who may be his family. He was never married and had no children, records say. However in the past two months an organization called Pegasus started to rise in power in the L3 colonies. The leader of this organization is Cameron Blackwell."
"He wasn't in any of the last wars was he?" Duo asked as he looked at the profile of the man.
"No he wasn't, it's Une's guess that he stayed out of both wars, collecting his forces and his military might before he made his move."
"And now he's moving?" Duo questioned.
"That's what the rumors say."
"And we're without our Gundams this time, and without mobile suits," Duo replied. Trowa hummed in agreement. "I mean unless Quatre can bring them back from being blown up after a few years."
"Quatre is good, but I don't believe he can do that," Trowa responded. Duo chuckled at him.
Duo had done well with the provisions, I guess I can't always listen to Wufei and his ranting that Maxwell only eats junk food. He did get some mind, not as many as I thought he would have. We chose to lay low for a while, letting the people of the colony see us as friends. We walk to the store together and look around at the shops. I had informed him that I wanted us to go in as partners, not strangers that way it wouldn't look odd us talking to each other and playing off each other. I have seen what really good teams can do when they don't want the enemy to know they are a team, and fail horribly because they were use to the team work.
He had agreed.
Duo is laying on one of the beds flipping through the stations and I am reading in one of the chairs when a knock came to the door. Duo set his canned soda down and grabbed his gun from under the pillow. He would be my back up as I answered the door. I opened it slowly but it was just the hotel clerk. He handed me an envelope.
"This arrived for you Mister Barton," he said and then left. I closed the door and locked it once more. Duo put his weapon away and walked over to me.
Opening the plan white envelope with just my last name, I took out the paper. I looked over the simple writing and looked at Duo who also looked at it.
"You are invited to Miss Simons birthday party, on Saturday. Party starts at two, casual dress, no gifts needed. May bring one guest. 1114 Lake Avenue," Duo read. "Looks like Blackwell is responding to us."
"Is that a good thing?" I questioned.
"Well we did kinda want him too," Duo replied. I had a bad feeling about this.
I am the stealth expert. Yeah Tro may be silent and stealthy, but I am the master at it. I had to do it most my life. So when that letter gave the address of some Miss Simons, I knew what we were both thinkin. I sneak around the place to see if anything fishy is afoot.
So what do I find? A middle aged woman in a upper middle class area with three dogs. So my sneaking in to look around was kinda not happenin. Of all my years of crawlin around and gettin inta places I shouldn't, I still hadn't found outa way ta get around dogs. I am so glad Tro is on this mission. After I told him bout the dogs he went. And wouldn't ya know it calmed down them beasts so he could look around. Man had a way with animals. I watch him from a roof over as he looks around. I am startin ta think that his woman has nothing to do with this Pegasus Group. Op just sounds weird, not like Oz.
Tro and I make it back to the room easily enough. I go and turn on the television and start surfin the channels. When he talks, "I don't understand," he said.
"Maybe it's a test? Ta see who ya are?"
"Or maybe it's to kill us?" Tro responds. Sometimes he can be like Heero.
"Ya really think they plan on killin us?" I asked and Trowa is silent for a while. Sometimes he annoys the shit outa me with his silence like Heero's. But that's also what attracts me to him. …
Did I really just have that thought?