CHAPTER 2: The Mission
Less than two hours later Wufei was on a copter heading for jungle, a pack at his feet and a parachute on his back, mission parameters whirling in his head. A mercenary group was constantly building bases somewhere in this thick, overgrown region. Preventer agents would destroy them and they would be rebuilt somewhere else within a month. Communication towers, weapon dumps, supplies, small hidden prisons - no matter how many were destroyed, more kept cropping up. A defector had finally admitted that there was someone big behind them - who even he didn't know - but the man came once or twice a year to oversee 'production'. The Preventers had kept an agent watching for him for three months now, switching them out every two weeks or so as malaria, wounds, and/or loneliness took their toll. One agent had been discovered and killed. Two had been hospitalized with severe illnesses. No one wanted this mission anymore.
Wufei welcomed it with open arms.
He sat stone faced throughout the flight, ignoring curious or sympathetic looks from the other Preventers on board. The file had included a long list of Preventers who'd exercised their right to refuse, and passed a dirty job along. Even if he'd wanted to pass, Hernbeck wouldn't have let him. He saw no need to share this information with anyone. He knew the man actively disliked him, knew he did his best to exhaust him, embarrass and humiliate him.
He couldn't care less.
Someone signaled to him with frantic motions, indicating they were approaching the jump site. He lifted his small pack and secured it to the chest harness, went over one last mental checklist. He nodded sharply to the man waiting at the open side of the copter, and stepped forward. The other man, older, with eyes that looked like a sad basset hound, pressed something into his hand before hitting his shoulder in the signal to jump.
He floated down through inky blackness - night jumps were dangerous, but they couldn't risk the mercs seeing the copter or his parachute - and was buffeted by first wind, then trees. He was caught fifty feet above the ground, and was very thankful for Trowa's lessons in gymnastics as he struggled down from the high branches. Trowa had made them all take them, patient with Duo's antics and Quatre's hesitation, with Heero's perfectionism and Wufei's sullen silence. The Doctors had suggested they each teach the others some of their expertise...
Stop thinking about them.
He finally reached earth, sent a swift thank you to whatever gods might be listening, and ghosted into the undergrowth. He took a split second to look down at his hand, grinning when he saw a chocolate bar between his fingers. That he'd save for a special treat. He had to get busy now. He had a lot to do before daybreak.
*
Duo dashed into the conference room and dropped into the chair next to Heero with a thud. "Not late?" He asked, staring around in amazement.
"No." Quatre said, smiling at him. "Commander Une isn't here yet."
Heero scowled at Duo, the look oddly affectionate. "Do we know what this meeting is about?"
All three of the others shook their heads, exchanging puzzled glances.
"Do you?" Quatre asked softly.
"No."
Trowa looked up from across the table, his one visible eye calm. "Mission?"
"Haven't heard any rumors of something big." Duo argued. It would have to be something big, if they were all required for a mission.
"It's not something big,"said a firm voice from the door, and all four heads turned to watch Commander Une walk in, noting the presence of Sally Po behind her with no little surprise. The doctor wasn't working for the Preventers any longer, marriage and an unexpected pregnancy had changed her life plans. Her daughter was a month old now, and they'd all become honorary uncles.
'All except' - Duo winced, and cut himself off. Une was still talking, and he had a feeling he didn't want to miss anything. Wouldn't be proper to drown in sorrow right now. He could do that later.
"It's not something big to the world. I think, perhaps, it may be very big to you four." She handed each of them a folder. "Tell me what you think of this mission."
Silence reigned in the room while they read the contents. Soon they were all scowling at the papers. Heero was the first to speak.
"Poorly planned."
"Yes." Quatre spoke up. "There should be backup. There should be a partner. There should be more supplies and less risk and... and a lot of other things!"
"It's a death sentence, as is. Good thing all these guys were smart enough to refuse." Duo put in his input.
Trowa just frowned down at the papers, then looked questioningly at Une.
She took a deep breath, not sure she could handle the reaction she knew she was about to get. And when she added the rest of her information, and Sally gave hers... Ah well. Best to bite the bullet and get it over with.
"Wufei accepted it."
Four pairs of eyes stared blankly at her.
She waited.
They didn't disappoint her.
"He what?!" Duo shouted, sitting bolt upright, amazement and anger on his usually cheerful face. Quatre gasped hard, speechless for the moment. Heero and Trowa exchanged wordless glances and reached for the mission specs again.
"I knew you four were planning on surprising him on your next leave. I thought I'd make sure he was going to be there - and I found this."
"Is he already gone?" Heero's voice was cold and stern.
"Yes."
"How soon can we leave?" Duo asked, his voice still harsh with anger. He was going to beat some sense into Wufei's thick head when they found him!
"Soon. But there's more." Une's voice distracted them - they stared at her again, waiting. "I'm not entirely sure he was given his refusal rights." Now the glances they exchanged were confused. She sighed again, and handed out some more papers.
"Major Sam Hernbeck is Commander at Wufei's temp post. The first page is his report of Wufei's requests to remain. The next page..." There was a brief rattle of papers. "The next page is the reports he's been filing in the databases. If you keep going, you'll see his opinions of Wufei's missions, followed by Wufei's own reports - which we had to dig to find." A brief expression of anger crossed her usually calm features. She let them read in silence for a few moments, watched without surprise as confused expressions turned startled, then furious.
"This... this..." Duo had to try hard to get the words out. "This isn't fair! It isn't right! If 'Fei'd stuck to these plans he'd be dead!" The other pilots nodded in complete agreement.
"I won't argue with you."
"Demerits... disciplinary action..." Quatre was reading one page aloud, and his face was suddenly dark. "Wait - he only gave him six hours between these two missions! And - and he was three weeks undercover on this one and got twelve hours off before going undercover on the next? But... but that's not long enough to get the first one out of his head, nowhere near enough to prepare for the second - is the man trying to kill him?"
Une sighed. She didn't answer the question, turned her eyes to Sally instead.
"Apparently." That woman spoke for the first time, and the four men stared holes through her. "I spoke with the doctor at the temp post. After Wufei's last mission he recommended he be allowed a six week leave. He cited exhaustion and severe nervous strain - you can read for yourselves that it was a pretty hard job. And Wufei had some minor injuries - bruises and strained muscles and a possible fractured rib. The x-ray tech had gone home for the evening - Wufei was supposed to be at the clinic first thing the next morning. Instead he requested rescheduling for the next day because of heavy paperwork." The faces turned to her were getting darker with every word she spoke. "The request came through Major Hernbeck's personal assistant, not from Wufei directly." She paused.
"There's more." Trowa said softly, eyes never leaving hers. She sighed.
"By the next morning, Wufei was already gone. He apparently signed the medical waiver for the mission. I wondered about that - he's stubborn, but not insane. I took a look at the actual paper scan. I know Wufei's signature. It wasn't even close."
Quatre hissed.
"And..." She stopped again, gathered strength for the next bit. It had horrified her, she'd had to read the file three times before she'd believed she was actually seeing those words. "They didn't - they never gave him the time to get his vaccinations. No malaria shots, nothing. They sent him into one of the most disease-ridden areas left on Earth or the four colonies, sent him in injured, exhausted and vulnerable and didn't even give him the decency of... of basic protection..." She trailed off, her voice thick with tears.
The four just gaped at her, stunned even out of their anger. That last bit of information had knocked the support out from under them. It took even Duo a moment to find his voice.
"Major Sam Hernbeck, huh?" Something in his oddly pleasant tone warned Une.
"You leave Hernbeck to me. We haven't told you everything yet." The four pairs of eyes jerked to her.
"Oh, no. There can't possibly be more..." Quatre groaned, leaning his forehead against the table. Trowa put a soothing hand on his shoulder. Heero and Duo just stared at their Commander, waiting.
"The files have been neatly arranged so that if anyone pulled them up, it would look like Wufei's only been gone a few days."
"And?" Heero.
"He's been there..." She stopped, took a deep breath. "He's been there for over a month. The last transmission they got from him said his equipment was failing, requested a new radio transmitter that they did not send. 'Budget issues' is what the file says. The light sabotage the mission required for camouflage has continued, although sporadically. But..." She sighed again, very softly. "They haven't heard from Wufei in the last three weeks."