Lady Une spends the drive back to the house speaking with Henri about travel plans and things around the house he'll see to while they're away. Mariemaia spends the drive running the tip of her finger along the healing wound on her palm, idly scratching at the scab with a fingernail. She stares out the window as the streetlights turn on and traffic crawls by slowly. She runs over the new information Lady Une has released, about the missing shipments and gutted transports. It still seems a little preposterous, that someone out there would attempt another take over, but on the other hand…Mariemaia can understand the appeal.
"Miss Mariemaia?"
Mariemaia jerks, finds that the car is parked in front of the house. She isn't sure if she'd dozed off or if she'd been too caught up in her own thoughts to notice their arrival. Lady Une is already on the front porch wrestling the front door open. Henri peers at her through the open car door.
"Thank you, Henri. I must have drifted off."
"It's been a long day, I'm sure," he replies. His bushy eyebrows crease together like a giant, fuzzy caterpillar. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," she replies, curling her injured hand closed. She steps from the car, smiling brightly. "Just thinking of what I need to pack for the trip."
Henri looks as though he doesn't quite believe her, as though he wants to ask something more, but Lady Une calls for her from the foyer. Mariemaia offers the driver another smile.
"Have a good night, Henri."
"You as well, Miss Mariemaia." He tips the brim of his hat to her, closing the car door gently as she scurries up the stairs and into the house.
Lady Une has turned the lights on and Mariemaia follows the trail of yellow lights to the office. Her guardian is rifling through the filing cabinet, muttering under her breath as she thumbs through the files. She pauses as Mariemaia leans against the doorjamb, eyes roving the orderly desk and shelved books.
"We'll only be there for four days. Make sure you pack something nice for dinner, maybe the dark blue dress you wore to Relena's holiday dinner?"
Mariemaia makes a face and presses her shoulder into the wooden doorframe. "I could wear the black one from Purvis's funeral last month." Lady Une looks up to level an unimpressed stare at her. Mariemaia shrugs in response. "Isn't black dignified?"
"The dark blue would be a better choice. Blue is viewed as more trustworthy. Friendlier."
Mariemaia tilts her head, studies Lady Une carefully. "Is that why you designed the Preventers uniforms to be blue?"
"One of the reasons," she agrees, attention once more on the files in front of her. She pulls a file free from the cabinet, skims the contents, and sets it on the desk before returning to her search. "You should bring a couple of nice clothes as well. Odds are you'll likely spend most of the trip in the hotel, but if you want to hear any of the speeches, you'll need to dress the part."
"I have been to a Summit before. And conferences. And parties."
Lady Une looks up again. Her expression has softened and she offers Mariemaia a small, slightly lopsided smile. "I know," she agrees. "Go on and start packing. It'll probably be leftovers for dinner tonight, I'll call you down when they're ready."
Mariemaia nods, turning on her heel and heading upstairs to her room. She drags her suitcases out from beneath her bed, setting them on top of the mattress and opening them. She busies herself with sorting through her clothes, pulling out potential outfits and draping them over her desk chair to review later. After some minor deliberation, she adds both the black dress and the dark blue to the pack pile. She can decide at the summit which she's in the mood for.
She's sorting through her shoes when her phone chimes. She grabs it from her dresser, waking it up to see the text message on the screen. Friday. Colosseo. Yes? She stares at the text from Kenzie until the screen times out and darkens once more. She taps the screen again, bringing up the messaging app to respond.
Can't. I have to go out of town.
Anywhere fun?
Mariemaia considers. She's been to Summits before, and while they're usually dry and monotonous, some of the speakers are interesting, or they make up for dull subject matter with a passionate outlook. During the L1 Summit last year she had sat in on a young delegate's presentation on poverty and homelessness. While the subject matter had been dreary, she had found herself interested despite herself. She doubted the delegate would face much opposition to the proposed plans. Then, on the other hand, there were the parties.
Summits, she discovered, were just excuses for diplomats, aristocrats, and world leaders to get together, clink champagne flutes, and gossip about everything and anything. She'd learned to be quiet and to listen, to observe. Dorothy always told her that those in power typically overlooked those who weren't, and she'd found that, as in most things, her cousin was correct. She'd learned of Lady Korzeniowski's summer affair with one of her staff members, of Minister Donahue's penchant for gambling (and subsequent debt), and had even heard some interesting and far-fetched rumors about herself while loitering outside one of the parlor's in the L1 ambassador's home.
It could be, she finally responds. More educational.
Sounds boring
How long r u gone?
I'll be back next week. Probably on Tuesday.
Hope its fun
Cya next week
. . ... . .
The shuttleport is nearly empty when Henri drops her and Lady Une off early the next morning. Mariemaia yawns as she drags her feet, following Lady Une through the security checkpoint and to their gate. They pause at a kiosk where Lady Une buys herself a strong coffee and Mariemaia gets black tea and a pastry covered in a small mountain of powdered sugar. They find a seat at a small table off to the side, next to a window overlooking the runway. Lady Une sips her industrial strength coffee while she scrolls through her phone and Mariemaia licks icing sugar off her fingers pointedly.
"Stop," Lady Une says, eyes not raising from the phone in her hand. Mariemaia ignores her, licking at the tip of her thumb. A napkin is held in front of her face. "Can you please act civilized?"
"Why?" Mariemaia questions. She moves the napkin aside. "This place is dead. I doubt a reporter is hiding in that potted bush over there about to post some article about the heathen child."
Lady Une snorts into her coffee mug. "Maybe because it's a disgusting habit?" she counters.
Mariemaia shrugs, picking up her tea. "No offense, but if Dekim couldn't break me of it, I doubt you will."
That does draw Lady Une's attention. Mariemaia notices the way her guardian's eyes rest on her, the fluorescent lighting makes her skin look sallow, the half-circles under her eyes deeper. Mariemaia slurps at her tea.
"Yes, well, hopefully I'll have a longer opportunity to do so." She sits back, shoulders straight beneath her suit jacket. It's blue, Mariemaia notes. Steadfast. Dependable. Trustworthy. "We should head to our gate."
"Yes, we'd hate to be caught in the rush to board."
"Come on," Lady Une sighs.
She stands, shouldering her satchel and straightening her jacket. Mariemaia trails behind her once more, half-reminded of the sneers she's heard whispered behind gloved hands and decorative fans. Une's lapdog. She tosses the wadded up napkin into the rubbish bin as they head to the gate.
. . ... . .
The flight to L4 passes without much fanfare. Aside from Lady Une and herself, there's a young family with a toddler, a handful of drably dressed businessmen, and a young woman seated in the rear of the shuttle wearing what look like outdated fatigues. Mariemaia glances at her curiously before she stretches out on the empty row of seats near the front and dozes off.
They land in the Winner Intergalactic Spaceport just after ten, L4 time. Mariemaia yawns as she follows Lady Une across gleaming sandstone-colored floors to the arrivals gate. She slides her passport across the desk, smiles innocently as the older woman manning the security booth does a double-take at her name. "What brings you to L4, Miss Barton-Khushrenada?"
"Politics, of course," Mariemaia replies, smile turning slightly feral at the edges.
"Mariemaia," Lady Une admonishes from over her shoulder.
The agent looks between Mariemaia's passport and Lady Une as though weighing her options. After a moment, she grips the handle of her rubber stamp, slams it forcefully down on the blank page, and slides the passport back across the desk. "Welcome to L4, Miss Barton."
"Khushrenada, actually. Thank you."
"I thought we agreed not to antagonize security," Lady Une comments as they retrieve their bags.
"I said nothing but the truth!"
"Uh huh."
There's an aide waiting for them after they claim their bags. He's young, gangly like a colt, and Mariemaia can't help but roll her eyes as the boy stumbles over his words and half-salutes Lady Une. Her guardian simply smiles indulgently, inclining her head toward the exit. The aide gets the message and practically trips over his feet to lead them to the waiting car that will take them to the hotel being used for the Summit.
Lady Une and the aide spend the car ride discussing the agenda for the next few days. While they're distracted, Mariemaia rolls the window down, resting her chin on the side of the car and breathing in the recycled colony air. She studies the buildings. There isn't much difference between L3 and L4's architecture, but it's obvious that L4 is newer, shinier, and better maintained. The high-rises they pass are all glass paneled, shining in the late morning light. There are imported trees planted and maintained strategically, and she sees what looks like a large park further along the colony's outer wheel. Parks were a luxury that poorer colonies couldn't afford to maintain.
"How does that sound?"
"Hm?" Mariemaia asks. She looks up from where she was studying a group of young women laughing as they sat at a table outside a café.
"Tuama, here," the aide waves at her, "will bring you to the suite so you can get settled, maybe take a nap? Then, we'll meet for lunch down in the dining room around noon."
"Where will you be?"
"Meetings. You'd just be bored, I'm sure."
Mariemaia eyes the aide, Tuama. He can't be more than eighteen with acne on his chin and hero worship in his eyes. She snorts and returns her attention to the window. "If you were just going to leave me stagnating in a hotel room you could've left me home."
"There's that biting wit I love so much." Lady Une reaches over, squeezes her hand briefly as the car pulls to a stop in front of a large glass-and-steel building with an elaborate metal W stamped above the entrance. Mariemaia has to crane her head back to see the top of it. "I promise, you'll be able to accompany me after lunch. I'm sure there will be plenty of delegates for you to verbally eviscerate as you please."
"Promises, promises."
Mariemaia steps out of the car as the valet opens the door. She trails Lady Une and the aide into the hotel as their bags are fussed over by two bellboys. Lady Une collects a packet from the front desk, rifling through it before handing a key card to Mariemaia.
"I will see you downstairs at noon."
"Yes, ma'am." She adds a salute for good measure and sees Lady Une fight to suppress a smile. The aide looks scandalized.
"Be civilized," Lady Une admonishes. She tucks a strand of hair behind Mariemaia's ear. "Tuama. Good luck."
The aide nods vigorously and Mariemaia rolls her eyes. She wanders over to the glass elevators in the center of the building, pressing the up button. When she looks back, Lady Une has disappeared and the aide is hurrying over to her. She steps into the elevator, presses the open door button, in spite of her initial instinct to let the doors close on the aide's face, and waits until he slides through the open doors.
"Floor thirty-three," he informs her. "You and the Colonel will be in the Coral Suite."
Mariemaia rolls her eyes at the aide's use of title as she presses the button for the thirty-third floor. She spends the short elevator ride staring out the clear glass panes at the oasis set up in the center of the lobby. There are fountains and palm trees and it looks at odds with the sleek modern furniture. The aide coughs as they reach their floor, gesturing for her to step off first.
"The Winner family has always tried to bring some of Earth to the colonies, ever since their formation."
Mariemaia blinks at him in surprise. "I thought they were involved in resource mining, not development."
The aide shrugs. "A family that large and distinguished have their hands in lots of jars. The youngest one, the new head of the Winner Corporation, has been working on war relief efforts. L4 wasn't hit as hard as some of the others, but it did suffer after the destruction of the Winner Resource Colony." He trails off when they reach the suite and Mariemaia inserts the keycard.
"It's interesting that a family so invested in the development of space would be so connected to Earth as well," she muses. "I'm sure that didn't win them many allies during the War."
The aide shrugs before a pained expression crosses his face as though he's not sure if that's out of line when speaking with the commander's ward. "Perhaps it was simply a way to bring the two together, peacefully."
She turns to take in the suite. It lives up to its name. The walls are a pinkish-orange color, the furniture white with coral colored accent pieces. There's a small sitting kitchenette and sitting area, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. Directly across from the door is a large window. Mariemaia pulls back the curtain and stares out at the main colony. The downtown area is bustling despite being midday and she watches cars and bicycles pass by thirty-three floors below her. She stares out over carefully maintained trees and burnished buildings. There is a park, midway up the curve of the colony, and she can make out the green of the trees bright against the steel and sandstone colors of the colony.
"Shall I return to bring you to the dining hall at noon?"
Mariemaia shakes her head, she had half-forgotten he was still there.
"Are you sure Lady Une…?"
"I can find my own way. Thank you," she says firmly.
She turns to watch as he pulls the door shut behind him before she collapses onto one of the plush sofas and flips on the television to await the arrival of their belongings. She has a feeling it's going to be a long few days.