Disclaimer: GW isn't mine, mine, mine.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Somehow, in the flurry of activities that followed, Relena managed
to hook a taxi to the airport. Hidden in her coat, no one could
see the impressive, formal wear she had on, complete with shoulder
tassels and an embroidered sash across her torso. Jogging at a
fast pace, she reached the jet in time.
She sat down in her seat with a pad and a pencil jabbing her hip
in their pocket just as the seatbelt sign flashed on. The engines
roared, drowning out the wind for a minute. Finding her seat unusually
stiff, Relena got out the items she had brought along. Surely
she'd have to make a speech; preparing one would be a good idea.
The flight, despite the dangerous wind and possible storms ahead,
was quick. Relena had managed to fill the small pad of lined paper,
which equaled about an hours worth of talking. All this through
the bumpy, jarring ride, the anxiety of not knowing what had happened,
her mind flashing with images of possible bad news. Not even seventeen,
and she worried so much. For the first time in her life she felt
bitter toward people in general; no one should be able to cast
this much weight on any person, whether they were her age or at
their peak of mental and physical excellence.
The plane dipped to the left as if pivoting on a wing and Relena
put away her speech. It wouldn't do to have it lost. Instead,
she gently tried laying her head against the back of her chair
to catch some rest, but the adrenalin wouldn't stop flowing. She
couldn't even doze off. The last twenty minutes of the flight
was turbulent; they skidded a few feet on the runway, bounced
three times.
Only when she got off the last step did she realize that the weather
was tolerable, for November, at least. Feeling for the speech
in her pocket, she walked to the building ahead; someone in the
distance was waving to her. She shaded her eyes with her hand,
but still couldn't make out the features of them.
Now that person had retreated to the Hall, letting Relena only
guess at who it was.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Duo let out a whoop of joy, shaking one fist in the air. Heero
slid back into his seat next to the window, while eyeing his partner
suspiciously.
Duo freely laughed at his expression.
"I found out something about those guys down in Nigeria!"
He handed the laptop to Heero, who promptly began to read the
information showing up on the screen, "I got into a file
and BAM, there it was!" He crossed his arms and grinned smugly.
"Even you didn't get to them that fast, oh Master Hacker."
Heero lifted an eyebrow while reading. "Didn't I give you
the necessary data to get to this?" Duo shrugged, suddenly
listless.
"Who cares?" He and Heero were on a flight to the Cinq
Kingdom. The plane was remarkably empty, so Duo had taken the
middle seats, stretching his legs across them. Heero sat across
from him in a window seat, mostly staring out the oval window
to the mass of rocky land beneath, silent as usual.
Duo peeked at him from his relaxed position.
"Hey, what's eating you?" He muttered. Heero shut the
laptop and stuck it in the shelves above his head, not intending
on answering. Duo lay his head down on the armrest farthest from
Heero so he could see what he was doing. "You haven't said
much at all since yesterday. Something bothering you about going
back to the Cinq Kingdom?"
Heero didn't budge from his position at the window.
"You won't tell Lady Une that we know about Relena's absence."
He suddenly demanded.
"Is that an order?"
"More like a threat." Duo sat up on his elbows, as uncomfortable
as that was.
"Why do you care? Relena seems to be handling it well, considering..."
Heero glared at his reflection.
"Just don't." Duo lay back down in a disgruntled fashion.
"No need to get all huffy about it..." He grumbled.
In a sarcastic tone, he added, "I hope it's okay I alerted
the others about it. We might need their help." No reply
came.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
After having greeted the small audience in front of her and excused
herself for being late, Relena sat down in one of the open chairs,
folding her hands over themselves on the table surface. The worried
expression of President Mahini only caused her mind to grow weary
and sad, but she wouldn't show this. Maybe the way her eyebrows
tilted downwards or how the corners of her mouth remained in a
sorrowful smile hinted at what she truly was feeling.
Cole Mahini began the meeting with a speech.
"We have recently received an estimate on the number of terrorists;
they have become a strong force of about 5,000 men and women and
are demanding drastic reform in the government.
"The truth is, Nigeria is weak right now; a great part of
Africa has had its' resources depleted due to the heavy strain
put on during the War. The poverty level is high, and I fear a
revolt in some cities. At the moment, northern Nigeria is completing
its' third week of draught.
"Now, this new threat imposes a list of impossible wants;
I cannot fulfill them. Even if I could, I wouldn't. They are asking
for several officials to be impeached, many laws to be repealed,
and the government to be militarily run. Along with that I would
have to step down from my position."
Though a little scrambled, the speech made it clear. President
Mahini was desperate. "I am willing to turn to more pressing
ways of ridding Nigeria of these threats. I am even more willing
to talk this over, but its' clear that I won't be able to."
His dark eyes caught up Relena's. "Is there any way for us
to go about this without the use of artillery?"
Silence came over the small group of people, all hoping she would
have an answer. Something seemed out of place in what the President
had said, almost odd. Relena glanced up to her left; Lady Une
had stationed herself there and was giving Relena a questioning,
mysteriously strange look. It made Relena wonder.
"Could we take a 10-minute recess?" She asked. "I
need to discuss something with Lady Une." Everyone seemed
a surprised at the abruptness of the request, but nodded. All
took their leave, if just to stand up. Lady Une followed Relena
into an adjoining room.
"It sounds like something is going on that we haven't run
into yet." Relena said immediately after the door was firmly
shut. Lady Une clasped her hands behind her in a satisfactory
gesture.
"You're right."
"How long have you known?"
"Not as long as you think, Miss Relena, only a few months."
"Why haven't you told President Mahini, or me?" Relena
asked further. Lady Une folded her arms.
"The Preventers are on the case; we've even got a member
for it. He's on his way and should be here in less than a half
hour." Relena smiled, if halfheartedly.
"Vague, as usual. When are you going to tell me what's really
going on?" She asked quietly.
"When I have to. Trust me."
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Duo trailed into the office, his hands stuffed down his jean pockets,
flanked by Heero. Hunching behind a huge desk, with her head bent
over some sheets of freshly printed Xerox paper and a cordless
phone in her left hand, sat Lady Une. She didn't look up when
they entered, even after Heero closed the door.
Duo finally took to clearing his throat ever so politely. Lady
Une swiftly glanced up, nodded, and greeted them.
"Have you received your identification cards?" She asked.
Both nodded. "Good. Please, take a seat."
In one large leap Duo was lounging in one of the chairs surrounding
her desk. Heero leisurely seated himself next to the American
without a word.
With a folder in hand, Lady Une stood up.
"Duo Maxwell, here's your assignment. You will be on a plane
to Nigeria-"
"Nigeria?"
"Read through the things in the folder and you will understand."
"I thought Heero and I were both working on this."
"You are, only you will go there and Heero will stay so he
can take advantage of the Preventer's equipment and use the computers.
He will aid you from a distance." Duo raised an eyebrow at
this questioningly.
"What am I going as...?" Lady Une leaned against the
edge of her desk, an expression of veiled smugness settling on
her face.
"Before the situation got out of hand, you were going to
go as a tourist."
"Hey!"
"Now, though, you're just a passerby who had to land in one
of the airports in order to continue your trip."
"A tourist..."
"I trust you know what to do next?" Duo nodded in a
reluctant way before standing up as well.
"A tourist. Well, I'll be leaving now. Heero..." His
partner stared up at him coldly. "Don't mess up."
Heero lightly smirked, pulling up the corner of his mouth a fraction
of a centimeter. With a final farewell to Lady Une, he departed
from the scene, already flipping through the folder.
She now turned to Heero.
"Heero Yuy, follow me."
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Relena coughed roughly, grabbing the back of a chair to steady
herself. Someone behind her put their hand on her shoulder.
"Aren't you feeling well?" It was Cole Mahini, his forehead
wrinkled anxiously not only at the display of illness Relena was
showing, but at the thought of returning to his country and not
bringing with him help of any sort. She laid her hand over his.
"I'm fine, thank you." She lied; she felt somewhat different.
Her throat was lathered up with something and she kept coughing.
But she had to see her company out the door. The President, along
with his employees, where staying at a hotel until they were sure
there was a safe plane to Nigeria. The airline they had formerly
used the most had shut down due to odd, unfortunate financial
circumstances.
Shaking each hand in turn, Relena found herself alone again. Even
Lady Une had taken leave some time ago, maybe two hours before
the meeting had officially ended. It was probably to take care
of the Nigeria case. She felt she was hearing too much of it.
Even in Canada that was what dominated the news, the papers and
the political chitchat students shot at each other. Even though
she would have given nearly anything to help, for once, Relena
had heard enough.
Easing herself into a more relaxed walk, she went up the stairs
to her bedroom, which she hadn't visited in four days. While wondering
how long she might have to stay out of school, since this was
a chunk of chaos someone had so graciously dropped into her lap,
she unbuttoned the stiff formal wear from that afternoon. Not
that she minded it as much as some thought, but high collars are
tolerable for only so long.
She found herself staring at the carpet, how unusual. True, the
carpet was nothing interesting. Bland, soft, thick, deep enough
to have the soles of someone's feet sink right in, light blue
in color. But that's all it was; a rug that covered every inch
of the floor from wall to wall. One couldn't even imagine something
creative with that impossibly normal blue: Relena began to draw
designs with her toes, still in their stockings. Circles weaving
in and out...that's enough. She finished undressing.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"What a day, what a day..." Setting his cap on his head,
Duo scanned the sparsely crowded platform for the luggage pick-up
department signs. He sighed. The plane flight had been awful;
after having been thoroughly checked and quizzed by security before
boarding the plane, then wedged between a beefy man and an obese
lady, then having virtually nothing to eat for nearly six hours
besides extremely salty peanuts, next - not being able to find
his luggage, something that highly displeased him, considering
their contents.
He walked along, his tennis shoes slapping the pavement noisily
compared to the people around him. All he received were strange
looks from everyone; obviously a foreigner, he wasn't worth the
trouble to bother with. They turned back to what they had been
doing before he came along.
Coming to a halt beside a brightly lit hallway, Duo wondered where
it led. All the signs were in a language he had no knowledge of,
so he decided to just go along with it and get lost. He had nothing
better to do; Lady Une had given him a very distant deadline to
work with.
"Ah, why not." Trotting down the hall, he went over
the address he was supposed to go to so he could hook up the laptop
and other, various equipment he had dragged along. With that thought
in mind, his pace quickened from a trot to a run; he didn't even
bother thinking of how suspicious that might look to the natives.
Finally, he reached a couple of routes to take; either another
hall or a doorway with a curious sign over it. Having not a clue
as to what it said, he entered through the door into a large room.
Duo found himself in the luggage terminal, but not the place where
one picked it up; rather the place where it was sent off to be
picked up. He quickly hid behind a guitar case so he wouldn't
get into trouble. Gazing around the hazy-aired room, he found
his luggage set in the farthest corner away from him. Hoping none
of the workers shoving and loading suitcases where paying attention,
he began to creep forward on his hands and knees...
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Flopping into his seat with a grin, he faced the small computer
screen, now finally working. Duo had spent much of the afternoon
slaving away at putting the various cables into the right places,
at first without the manual. He soon learned the importance of
those booklets with his second sparking of the wires.
Now, everything was manageable. All could begin. Swiftly tapping
into the resources Heero had sent him, he began his search for
some people in the terrorist group. Even with his large knowledge
of how these things ran, it was the start of a difficult, agonizingly
frustrating search of people he had never encountered before,
never heard of or seen before, and would probably be the kind
that one would least suspect of such radical actions. This thought
slightly depressed him; he took up an odd little chunk of bread,
sweet and fattening, which he had bought earlier that day before
setting all his concentration on his goal. Being a driven person
by nature, along with all his other qualities, this wasn't too
hard.
A little icon on the corner of the screen flashed repeatedly.
Duo lowered his eyes before moving his hand; it was another long
list of need-know-items from Heero. While reading through he printed
it out, just in case something happened to the memory on the computer.
It had a few more questionable persons with extensive information
on them: everything from their financial position and political
standing to their dental records. Most of it was boring and Duo
skimmed over the rest. Setting the sheets of paper aside, he took
up his work again, intent on finding out something by the time
morning struck beams through the window on his right.
<
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Relena staggered to her feet after breakfast, having eaten most
of what was on her plate but without noticing it. She didn't feel
full; all she knew was that her head felt heavy, like a balloon
filled with wet sand. Withstanding the tempting idea of taking
another hour of sleep before working, she left for her office
where many things had been piled into stacks for her to review.
One of those things was a bill that she was sending into to be
considered turned into a law; Relena had to make it perfect so
it would be accepted, and she had devoted half the day to that
one document. It declared the ban of using, producing and storing
all weaponry, from guns to mobilsuits. Only a few, carefully selected
organizations would be able to legally keep an arsenal with them,
one of these being the Preventers. This was a step in a plan she
had developed with the other ministers.
She was having enough to do with the first step, one she found
quite difficult. The past five months alone had been busy with
that one bill.
In order to have this done on schedule, since she had now given
herself a time limit, Minister Io accompanied her with his help.
Together, they fixed all necessary points, discussing what may
or may not need change.
"By the way, how is Montreal to you, Miss Foreign Vice Minister?"
He asked kindly. Relena tapped her pen against her shoulder, thoughtfully
studying the rough draft they had pulled up in front of her.
"Very good."
"No problems?"
"None whatsoever." Her gaze briefly wandered from the
paper to him, though his head was bent over her desk as well.
"Are you worried?"
"A little." He answered mildly, straightening to look
her in the face. Relena lay the pen down.
"I am getting along, Minister Io, really. I'm doing fine;
I've even met some people there who one would consider friends.
And I find that I'm even enjoying my stay."
"You don't think the workload is overwhelming along with
your school work?" Relena shrugged with a small smile.
"Maybe sometimes, but that's normal. I can't expect less."
"This work isn't causing you to be sick?" Startled,
Relena found that it wasn't suspicion, but worry in the minister's
face opposite her.
"Of course not!" She picked up her pen again. "Now,
the conclusion seems a little weak, don't you think so?"
Minister Io sighed.
"Maybe, though I'm sure we have done as much for this as
we could. We've given it our best shot; ESUN must accept it now.
After all, this is what you've been saying you would do to reach
complete Pacifism, right?" Relena nodded.
"Thank you for your help, Minister Io."
"Your welcome." He stood up, stroked the creases out
of his suit, and turned to leave the room. The doors clicked shut
behind him; his footsteps could be heard tapping down the hall.
Relena was alone, again. She tucked the bill into a folder, putting
that in one of the file cabinets lining one side of the wall.
Now that her hands had nothing to do, she felt a foreign feeling
of being able to do nothing creep into her. It was strange, since
at both elbows were piles of things she needed to go through.
But she procrastinated; except for a short, scheduled meeting
to scan over the situation with President Mahini, there was not
much else. At least, that's what she told herself, at the same
time keeping her eyes locked onto the wood surface of her desk.
She needed an aspirin tablet. That would help with the weight
on her head. Then she could get started on the rest of the day.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"Absolutely not."
"Ma'am, excuse me for saying so, but they are threatening
us with illegal weaponry."
"And no matter what, I am not going to support your suggestion."
"Can't you see that meetings will get us nowhere?" Anne
narrowed her eyes.
"Vice Minister Peacecraft would be appalled at your idea."
She sneered. Nero Foster gripped his pen fiercely in one hand,
the veins in his neck standing out.
"The Vice Foreign Minister is not even seventeen, ma'am,
and yet you look up to her?"
"Very much so. She knows what she's talking about, and if
she is as against attacking these people as she has shown, than
so am I." Nero sat down, the pen still being crushed in his
hand, heaving a forced sigh.
"We cannot battle this force with words, Miss Nibolga."
"In that case, I don't see your purpose on this campaign,
Mister Foster." His head shot up, eyes sparkling.
"You're really going to do as Miss Peacecraft orders? Haven't
you seen what those terrorists have wrecked on Nigeria? They are
frightening the population! The last week has been spent trying
to pry some information from those people, but not a trace of
anything important has been found. We're all in a crisis a state
of confusion not one mind in this whole council is not laden with
worries and precautions. Pacifism is a Utopian ideal, and I can't
see how anyone is capable of keeping to it."
"Vice Minister Peacecraft is not trying to create heaven
on Earth, Mister Foster, but a peace that might make it through
the years and enable everyone to assimilate. Get to the point."
"I feel we have to take action, Miss Nibolga, even if it
means that someone seizes guns and uses them."
"The Preventers have sent out one of their most capable agents-"
"One agent is not enough." Anne Nibolga shoved her chair
back, glaring.
"If this is truly your opinion, you might as well talk to
the President. I just might lose patience with you, Mister Foster,
and I do not have Pacifism as one of my highest ideals. True,
I have repeated myself often on the grounds of my beliefs, that
I will take action if its' a must and fight. But I believe we
can pull through without use of the brutality of machinery. As
it is, this won't stand with you; you're thinning my patience."
Nero Foster jumped up, leaning his hands on the table surface.
"Are you threatening me?" He sounded disbelieving, and
Anne Nibolga smiled bitterly.
"I will see you later, Mister Foster. Till then, arrange
a talk with President Mahini; it might help."
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Duo yawned, sluggishly watching the crowd move by him at a steady
pace. His expression was slack, lacking alertness, his eyes heavy
lidded, uninterested. He had been watching the unknowing people
since early that morning, traveling the grounds and even walking
through some of the corridors of the City Hall to find what he
had learned had to be there. But so far, no one seemed out of
the ordinary.
It was a little after noon already. A vendor by the street corner
had been staring at him oddly for the past ten minutes, making
Duo believe it was time to move on. He sauntered listlessly back
into the massive building labeled City Hall, intent on using the
information Heero had given him. Hands stuffed into the pockets
of his shorts, he wandered through the entrance into the interior,
now semi-filled with an assortment of people. It being cooler
inside than out, he thought he might as well search here.
It had been nearly three weeks since he had arrived. Ever since,
Duo hadn't strayed far from his room. Heero had been sending him
fragments of things he thought might lead to some discovery; this
last week he had barely sent anything. Not only was this worrying
Duo, it made him incredibly bored. Having nothing to do but sit
in a chair, watching a computer screen, researching, had made
him slouch in his seat and created an unhealthy routine of catching
little sleep.
But out of the blue, Heero had began to catapult scraps of things
to Duo, letting him find out for himself what the information
meant. The last two days had been enough to give Duo the illusion
that an event was going to take place in the densely populated
area of the City Hall. As overly hopeful as this sounded to him,
he wanted to give this a chance. The next day, he had walked out
on the beginning of his search.
Now, he lackadaisically leaned an elbow on a window pane, glancing
out at the activity below. He had made his way to a little hallway
where he was completely alone. The walls had long ago been painted
a soft peach color, now faded into a faint yellow. Except for
the many windows, no light reached inside.
So when Duo heard footsteps, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
In much this way an old man, dressed in old kaki pants and a button
up shirt with a near-toothless grin, found him. He nodded kindly
before moving on to one of the doors that dotted the hall, ignoring
Duo's curious stare. After the doors shut with a resounding click,
Duo crept to the end of the hall, where the sunshine the windows
let in didn't reach.
Tucking himself into a corner, he crouched, breathing slowly and
quietly, listening for more footsteps, watching for more people.
It was a lasting wait in which Duo dropped to one knee, eyes still
concentrated directly in front of him.
A soft padding sound reached his ears. He grinned quickly, but
his triumphant expression dropped when he only saw two local women
coming towards him, chattering quietly with each other, colorful
cloth draped over their bodies to cover them from shoulders to
ankles. One had a basket under her arm, heaped with fruit. The
padding sound was their sandals on the stone floor. Duo almost
let himself sigh when the two women went through the same doors
as the old man.
Letting his body hit the ground he sat down Indian-style. One
portion of his mind was calmly directing him to leave and buy
food, the other was arguing about the suspicion these people had
impressed on it. Three people whom one wouldn't suspect of almost
any crime coming together in a secluded place, wasn't that reason
enough to stay and keep watch? Duo grudgingly admitted to himself
that he didn't have any other leads to go after anyway. Flipping
his braid over his shoulder so it landed with a thump against
his lower back, he prepared himself for a long wait.
A half hour had stalked by, leaving Duo to remind himself every
few minutes of his increasing hunger. Stretching his legs out
in front of him, he leaned his head against the cool surface of
the wall behind him, relaxing for the first time that day. His
hands slid from his lap to his sides while he thought, staring
at the cheap decorations of the ceiling.
It couldn't be helped; his mind wandered. Unleashing his boredom
into his thoughts made him think of the cafeteria at the Preventers
Headquarters. While walking to Lady Une's office, Heero and he
had gotten a glimpse of it. Eyes following the pattern on the
ceiling, he then thought of Heero. This, in turn, brought him
to Deathscythe, which caused him to shake his head free of such
thoughts and again concentrate on the hallway.
If someone else hadn't come down his way, Duo would have stood
up and quit for the day. But he couldn't help but freeze by what
he saw; it was a girl, barely fifteen years old, with dark eyes
and braided hair. She glanced over her shoulder quickly before
moving to the door. With one more glance around, she slipped inside.
Barely five minutes later someone else came, another girl, maybe
seventeen. She hastily trotted across the floor, also going through
the same doors as the others.
With a grin, Duo gathered his legs under himself, positioning
his body for a quick run in case he needed to escape. Eyes shining
with a glimmer of hope and excitement, he watched in case anyone
else came along. When no one did, he flew through the hall at
a fast sprint, mentally summing up the number of things he'd need
for tomorrow.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Even though this came out rather soon after the other chapters,
I'm not going to be able to fling the others out as fast (it took
a few months to sum this up, and I'm still working on the rest).
Thanks!