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"Alternative Directions: Options "Written By: Karina Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the lovely
boys and their girls in the series. Wish I did. Please don't sue me.
I haven't even got a brass razoo to give you. Rating: Deffinately PG in Australia, at the moment,
but probably safer to say R for later chapters. Not sure about international
ratings Warnings: It will be 6x2, even though it does
not start out that way. After all, Zechs and Duo never met in Gundam
Wing and only spoke briefly over a com line in Endless Waltz. I've
tried to keep them in character as I saw them in the series. A bit
of language creeping in under stressful conditions. Pairings: eventual 6x2, past 2xH, 2+H,6x9, 1+R
Summary: Directions is set post Endless Waltz
and roughly 2 years have passed. Zechs and Noin are on Mars and Duo,
after spending some time with Hilde in a relationship leaves L2 to
join Preventers. Hilde was not happy about his decision. I guess enough
said. Here t'is, and I hope you like it. This is also AU for the standard
setting, as well as the series and Endless Waltz. Spoilers: Gundam Wing Series and Endless Waltz Many thanks to Dulin for volunteering to beta this. //... // thoughts
"Alternative Directions: Options"
Chapter 117 2nd March AC 198 In transit Aphrodite ISA-R 0143A Time: 10: 45 [Ship time is as for Station One] Raydon It was becoming harder to keep his attention focused on the needs of the crisis. His eyes hurt, the eye balls felt dry and irritated and his lids felt as thought they weighed in at a mass tonnage that would rival this ship. How long was it now that he had been without sleep? He really did not feel energetic enough to work even that out and he still had matters to see to relating to this unexpected public coming out of the Independent Station Alliance. // I am so tired but there is still so much that needs doing. I need to arrange meetings and set up a conference call between Station One, the Aphrodite and the Peacemission. // He rubbed at his eyes, staring sightlessly into the darkness beyond the view port. // If I do not get some rest soon I will be of no appreciable use to anyone. Perhaps just an hour? I have laid the groundwork and if they don't want me to collapse and start snoring at one of the meetings they will have to allow me the chance to rest. It is time I stood back and allowed others to push forward the overall design we discussed. I may be President of the Station Alliance but Superman I am not. // He was only too aware of the faint sounds of movement from behind him. He had not enjoyed the security of his own company for years. It was rare that he could be solitary and it was an unavoidable necessity of his life that those most often found in his presence were aides and fellow schemers and generally people he would not choose to enjoy a quiet reflective drink or discussion with. They were all business partners at some level or another or the aides to such people and the topics of discussion was always the development of the Stations and the eventual public announcement within the Earth Sphere of their existence. Eventually had become reality. At this particular moment he was graced with a reprieve from the work load that after this days events would only treble. Maurice moved around the room, no doubt finding small things to do and waiting either for instruction to get the hell out and let him have a little peace or he was working up the courage to order him to bed. He would only too happily comply with that latter suggestion if it was made. “It is past time that you took the opportunity to rest, Sir.” //That was not really an order, Maurice. I could have toddled off like a good little boy if you had just told me to go to bed. Ah, listen to me. I must be more tired than I thought and that is saying something.// He felt the movement in the ship and subtle alteration in the vibration of the ships engines and watched as the view shifted. The changing angle of the fleet brought the ship around so that the distant Station One once again filled the view post. He watched the multi hued lights of the space habitat fall further and further behind as the ship left this safe harbour within the asteroid belt behind them. //To the uninitiated space would have looked empty before our course shifted. But those points of light out there are not distant stars but lethal debris that would kill us in an instant if there was a hull breech.// Space was never empty. It might seem that space was a void, an absence of matter for vast stretches but he knew that for the illusion it was. They had left the sanctuary of Station One behind them but this area was by no means empty of threat. There were always hazards in space. From micro meteors to mile long asteroids and even the floating debris of dead ships threatened the space lanes. There was a great deal of debris floating around in space, some the natural debris found in space, some the product of the early days of the space exploration programs and much more that was the destruction left over from the wars. Debris blasted clear of the Earths orbit in the war three years ago by the detonation of the section of Libra had now made its way out to the depths of the asteroid belt and presented a considerable hazard to his ships. // Perhaps I could present a bill to the Earth Sphere for the clean up costs to ensure the Alliance space lanes are safe? // he chuckled softly. //Wouldn't that go down well with that bunch of politicians obsessed with their self importance. A reminder of the war they so desperately want to forget and just another reminder, Raydon, that you have work to do. Another reason not to get some rest. Another reason to think of something other than Him. // He caught a glimpse of distant sunlight reflecting from the hull of the trailing ship and scowled. It had been his intention to leave Station One with only the one ship but the Council in one of its first official dictates had refused him. * “Damn it, Raydon, just who do you think you are? You are the President of the Independent Station Alliance, you know. You can no longer just hop any ship in the fleet and take off when you feel the mood. You will go, yes, have no fear, we know full well that there is no stopping you or turning you aside from this course but you will go under suitable escort. An escort fitting for the President of the Alliance and his staff. We have already spoken to the ships Captains in dock at this time and two of them have agreed to act as official escort vessels to the Aphrodite. We will also arrange for a third and perhaps a fourth to join you in transit.” * //It has already begun. Unavoidable, I suppose. The end to whatever personal freedom I had enjoyed has come. From here on my personal desires do not matter and my life will not be my own. My private life will deteriorate until it reaches the stage where I have no personal life and I will become slave to the needs of the people. I knew it would be swift in coming if I took this step and I had wanted to sort out my personal relationships before I took on the role of President but … It had to come when the Stations went public and I had thought that my being their Representative should not need to be a life sentence … but … The only good thing about the time scale that has been forced onto me is that at the very least I have been able to chose who it is that I will become slave to.// “Sir. You really must get some sleep.” Ah, that man really was not going to give him any peace on this trip. He was going to be very glad of his presence but he did not need to permit Maurice to know that he was pleased with his presence. It would have been better, safer for Maurice himself if he had remained on Station One but he had known that the man would somehow manage to work his way onto the Aphrodite before they had departed. He had not disappointed and to use that argument to win his way aboard … He wanted Milliardo to begin to accept who he was born to be and Maurice could become an integral part of that process of acceptance. Maurice had a pure and a quietly persistent stubborn streak against which Milliardo was never likely to win. If he could not talk Maurice around then Milliardo would not stand a chance against him. //Not quite phrased as an order, but I could say it was close enough to permit myself to give in. If I did would I be able to sleep or only rest? There is so much to be done, but even a few minutes rest would help.// “I will rest shortly, Maurice. The truth is that with all that has needed to be done in the last few hours I don't believe that I could relax enough as yet to sleep. I just need a little time to unwind. Just a few minutes to rest.” “Perhaps a brandy would help relax you?” The perfect Gentleman's Gentleman always had the solution to the problem and if this man was not perfection at his trade then he would be terrified of the one who exceeded Maurice's skills. In truth this man was very likely going to end up driving him insane but for all of that fussing he was glad that he was here. At the least he knew that when he finished with the multitude of meetings and briefings that would fill his days that he would not be returning to an empty cabin. That alone was a comforting thought. He doubted that he could take being on his own after some of the scheduled meetings yet to take place on the Aphrodite and Maurice, while he had a tendency to be an annoying mothering bastard, could also be soothing on the nerves and had an uncanny instinct for what he needed, if not what he wanted. Fulfilling the needs was more important than pandering to the 'I wants' in life. Some of the servants who had been in his employ through the years and his colourful past simply could not blend into the background and be invisible and silent if he needed them to be so subdued, but that was an ability that Maurice seemed to have mastered long before he had come to serve Raydon. Instinct, Maurice called it. Instinct and training. Raydon had another name entirely for it and it involved the word Gifted. Though Maurice denied he was one of that select group Raydon knew better. Maurice was at the very least mildly empathic and though he had never been tested Raydon was fairly certain that there was at least a rudimentary telepathic ability involved. The man was simply too good and too accurate at reading his employers moods for it to be a matter of simple training. If there was no talent involved then his ability to read a person was frightening. “Perhaps it would.” He stared at the retreating station as he listened to his companion move about. The faint clink of the decanter against the snifter and the stopper sliding back into the decanter. Soon the station would be lost in the vastness of space and they would be approaching the edge of the stations protecting shield. The shielding provided a secure protected area for the jewel that was Station One. Without that shield within hours Station One's light would go out perhaps forever as the encircling asteroids would not be turned aside and freely could pummel the wondrous outpost of civilization into so much debris. The vast network of shielding stations was what made the existence of not just Station One but all three of the major Stations possible. Safe behind their energy screens the stations need not fear rogue asteroids nor did they need to fear discovery by ships and explorers of the Earth Sphere. Only Alliance ships came this deep into the Asteroid Belt. Only ships equipped with adequate energy screens could survive the multitude of micro meteors that attacked and fatally punctured vulnerable hulls. With the announcement of the Station Alliance there would no doubt be greater traffic in the area as the ESUN attempted to locate their competition and estimate their strengths and weaknesses. Even after they devised and agreed to a treaty and trade alliance with the ESUN there would be spy ships plying the asteroids, looking for the smallest advantage that might be gained. //They will be like circling vultures. Even Milliardo's sister will want to know more than they need to know and if she ever gets a hint that her brother will be a part of Station One's personal there may be added danger. I am sorry, Milliardo, but I am not as trusting or forgiving of your sister as you are. I will be watching her. // “Your Brandy, Sir.” He could feel the man standing close behind him and make out his reflection in the window to space. He just was not ready to turn away from the sight of that shrinking station. “Put it on the table, would you, Maurice? I'll be there in a moment.” He considered the view and the hesitation in the man before he turned away to obey his instruction. Maurice, he realized had been awake almost as long as he had been. His honour would not have permitted the man to so much as close his eyes before his employer was safely tucked in bed unless he took action. “I promise that I will drink the brandy and then I will retire for a few hours. You can go and get yourself settled into your own cabin. You have had no sleep either.” “I beg to differ, Sir. I at least know the wonders of delegation to others more suited to individual tasks and I am not adverse to taking advantage of quiet moments in which to grab a quick nap. However, if Sir will indeed rest as he has promised I shall retire to my cabin. Might one enquire if Sir knows when the gravity will be deactivated?” “Not until after we are clear of the Asteroid Belt. Some workstations are already without gravity but the accommodation sectors of the ship are slated to retain gravity for a week so that the ships medics may assess the med levels required for each of the new personal onboard. When we are clear of the Belt and the med levels are finalized they will lock down the gravity generators and it will probably be only for a day or two every two weeks that we will have gravity. It will be the bare minimum of time required to allay muscle deterioration in the most vulnerable of the crew. You can expect the ships Medical Officer and staff will be around with our medical records and assessment kits and the required meds to compensate during the allotted week. The routine should not be too different from your initial journey to Station One.” “Very good, Sir. I must admit that I am pleased to be in space again.” He glanced at the man, one regal brow arched in genuine surprise. “Station life does not suit you?” “I beg to differ, Sir, it suits me very well indeed. However I rather did enjoy my initial flight to Station One so I am pleased that I once again have the opportunity to enjoy prolonged space flight. It would not, however suit me to engage in this as a permanent life style. These aging bones do actually prefer gravity.” “Ah. I see. Young bones as well as old bones have a marked preference for gravity, Maurice, that is why we have the meds to compensate, but I must admit that I like the freedom of movement Zero gravity offers. We have a long flight ahead of us but I very much doubt that it shall be a boring flight. Take the chance while you can. Go to bed, Maurice.” “Indeed, Sir. I am expecting to be anything but bored on this journey.” a polite bow and the Gentleman's Gentleman removed himself to the door where he paused. “I have taken the liberty to turn your bed down, Sir. I see no need to use that modified sleeping bag in its frame until there is no other option. One may as well be comfortable. I have also taken the additional liberty of arranging your first meeting for 17:30 hours. I shall have a meal awaiting you at 17:00 hours. The ships Medical Officer contacted the suite with his concerns for your health while you were on the obligatory tour and I explained to him that you only required a few hours sleep to no longer look like shit warmed up, Sir.” The man's hand had been hovering over the door control and fingers flashed as he spoke. With a perfectly straight face he bowed respectfully and exited the cabin, the door closing behind him. Raydon bit back a laugh, having witnessed the entire performance in the reflection in the viewing window and mentally chalked up a win to Maurice. The man was a wonder and had won him the chance to get some much needed sleep. He was not going to complain. Raydon sighed, eyes closed against the sight of the darkness of space and that now distant pin point of light that marked the station and permitted him the utter luxury of drinking in the silence and solitude of the cabin. Once, in his much younger days the silence of space had appealed to him and he had even entertained the notion of making a career for himself as a ships Captain. That idea had paled when he had determined through investigation and one or two instances of vision that the risks to being a licensed ships Captain would require more trouble that it was worth. Biological information would have been required to be entered into a ESUN wide registry that would undoubtedly have been monitored periodically by Romefeller agents. He had not been at that time of a mind to take on the might of that organization after having so successfully made his escape. Even Sweeper Captains had to be registered with the ESUN Space Registry. The quiet of his cabin at this time was a soothing balm to his overtired mind. There was, of course, the throb of the engines which was in reality more of a vibration to be felt with every fibre of his being than it was an actual sound to be heard and that vibration was soothing in its regularity. He had refrained from turning on the receive functions of the computer consol set near his current position so the machine was at this time dark and silent. No distracting com chatter, no disturbing news reports and blessedly no summons to attend some crisis. Unfortunately it also meant that he was unable to receive word on the advances in the rescue attempt happening in the vicinity of Mars. If he turned it on … when he chose to turn it on he would be able to monitor the condition of the ship and contact any of the Stations or ships allied with the Stations at will, but he wanted none of that just now. It was too early to have word of events on or near Mars and it was much too early to speak with Howard or the captains laying a delaying field between the Wellington and Mars. // I wish that you had not left Station. Would that you could have trusted me not to push you before you were ready. I would not have pushed, Milliardo. I would have given you the space you needed, but you had to overhear that message from my agents and you had to interfere.// If he closed his eyes he could, without any difficulty at all imagine the presence of the one person he wanted above all others to be here with him at this time. Milliardo had been raised to the halls of power and much of a person's personality and sense of duty could be shaped in the first six years of a young life. For the children of the nobility and it was particularly true for the children of Royalty there was a harsh school that began when one learned to walk. If one was fortunate then the instructors were tempered by the loving warmth of a doting mother and the firm but loving eye of a strong father, as he had been able to enjoy until Romefeller destroyed his life. For Milliardo there had been that love and assurance mixed with the heavy traditions and stern tutors charged with raising a future king. Both of them had been groomed for power at an early age and both of them had known tragedy and betrayal. “We have so much in common. In our past and in the present but time is marked by change and things are changing now. I will have you safe, Milliardo. I will have you safely out of the ESUN's control and if your sister does not like it that is too bad. You and your children are not going to be subjected to imprisonment and bondage. The Alliance will be your protection.” With a soft sigh he closed his eyes against the sight of the void beyond the safety glass. Somewhere nearby the way station would be sending out the pilot probes and the additional force screen units but for now, he had a few precious moments of solitude where he dared to envision what to him was perfection. His fingers could almost reach out and touch that flowing cascade of silver white hair … caress the silken luxury of well cared for tresses… he could almost feel the heat and the satin texture of that warm living flesh. Indeed, so vivid was his imagery that he could almost scent the man, that unique scent that was personal, warm musk and spices, something reminiscent of … Something … Reaching out to touch and hold the promise of … “Milliardo?!” Golden eyes snapped open but there was no mistaking his surroundings reflected in that window. He was in his cabin of the Aphrodite, the flagship of the Station Alliance that was taking him to the much anticipated rendezvous with history and he was here alone. He was en route to that fateful meeting between the ESUN Officials and the Station Alliance to take place on a Sweeper ship that must be brought to a favourable conclusion for the good of the Station Alliance and ultimately for the good of the ESUN itself. More, though, he was on the way to a rendezvous that would eventually bring him once again face to face with that glorious pale creature who even now must be fighting for his life on that desolate ball of Rock … Yet.. he was here. Surely he was not mistaken. He was certain that Milliardo was here and he was standing just out of his immediate touching reach. That unique scent was unmistakable and surely he was not so tired, so impossibly exhausted that he was hallucinating? Milliardo was near. Just …behind him? There was no reflection of pale magnificence in the mirror of the window. He was alone in this room but still that presence grew in strength and he flared his nostrils, drinking in the exotic scent of him. Yes! He was not mistaken. He could not be in error. He closed his eyes, gathering together all of the years of training he had undergone in long ago days and the more recent training which he had undertaken with good will as an example to those gathering on Station who needed such reassurance. He pulled his perceptions together, marshalling flagging strength to settle his perceptions and to focus his Psi talent. A series of measured breaths expended the tension within him and permitted him to extend his awareness out beyond himself and to seek something … It was there. A presence growing stronger, a surge of bundled emotion that threatened to overwhelm him. Closer. He was closer to isolating it, defining it, identifying it without doubt as … Something was here … Someone was here …Someone … He would not have thought this possible, not over such a distance as must be involved here. None of their tests, none of their experiments suggested such range was possible but … Pain flashed within that awareness and his own body mirrored its binding agony. He felt it so clearly, pain that was not his own but that resonated through his own flesh with no less force than it tore into the source of that pain. Pain, a mirror of that agony felt by the other and with it came the space warping longing of a soul in agony. A soul that thirsted for an ending and the chance to rest and to know peace. None of it was his own emotions. None of it was his own pain or discomfort. Not the physical pain or the mental anguish and not the longing soul deep aching for a peace forever denied. With a ragged breath he pressed his hands to the transparent wall, his eyes snapped open but he no longer saw the point of light that was the distant station nor did he see the ship that moved through the void so near his own, a guard against danger. “Help is on the way, Milliardo. Be assured that it is closer than you think. I feel you, my Prince of Hearts. I know that you can hear me. We are doing all that we can to delay the Wellington from reaching you and help is on the way. Don't you dare give up. I have two of my agents there to assist you. Do not fight them, I beg you. They are there to help.” He could almost reach out and touch that silken hair so vivid was the impression of the blonde standing behind him. Just a slight inclination of his body and a reach of his hand and he must surely feel the warmth of living flesh. He would be able to reach out and … Almost … but no, there was a barrier there that separated them and through which he could not reach and grasp that physical form. It was not his gift to warp time and space and thrust himself through the ether and impossible realities to bring himself to where he needed and desired above all other places to be. It was not his gift to simply think himself to Mars because if it was within his power to do so then he assuredly would think himself to Mars and he would teach everyone there who threatened one of his own what it was to mess with a Kushrenada. Gone. That much desired presence was gone, banished as quickly as a scent borne on the wind, snapped from his awareness and he was left in desolate nothingness. He dragged air into his lungs, leaning heavily against the cold plastiglass and panting. Not for an instant did he think it a hallucination. He knew that it had been real. His fingers balled into clenched fists and he trembled with reaction to that seeking of comfort he had sensed married to his own wish to give that comfort. He wanted … needed to give comfort and to offer protection and assure safety and he was bound by distance and the freezing vacuum of space and the cold reality of the limitations of transportation. // Milliardo. I will have you here, where you will be safe. I will bring down the ESUN into bloody ruin despite your protests if they do not loose the bonds they weave around you. Those bastards will learn to keep their hands off what is so far beyond them that they are dinosaurs in comparison. Well might we be the end product of genetic manipulation but we do not have to be their slaves. We may enjoy freedom and know it to be our right. // Slaves. That was all that they were to Romefeller's Inner Council. They were bred to be servants to the every whim of those decrepit task masters who professed to be fit to rule the worlds of the ESUN and they were not seen as being fit to so much as touch the velvet robes of those who claimed superiority. His lips drew back baring his teeth in a snarl of disgust and anger. The intent at their conception might have been to produce obedient slaves but that did not guarantee the cooperation of the finished product. Romefeller had had promising generations in the past and rebellion within those ranks had dealt the Inner Circle a blow they might yet have not recovered from. He and others like him could and would defy the Circle and their plans and earn for themselves a freedom to exist beyond their control. This time, as had happened once before that he knew of, those who rebelled against the Council would not be brought under control. He personally doubted that Romefeller's elite really understood what they had created with their genetic alterations. “Milliardo.” the breath of a whisper to mist the plastiglass as he rested his forehead against the cold material. //He must be desperate. How? How has he found a way to contact me? Desperate. Possibly crisis and that is not good for anyone on Mars, least of all Milliardo himself. Giles and Polnar … are they not with you? Have they been unable to reach you? Agh! I am too far from the action to be effective. What is waking within him if he can reach out and touch me over such distances? It was no dream. No hallucination but something real and not merely telepathy. Something different. Something I have not encountered before, I think. He had no sign of having the sheer power required to reach these distances when he was on Station. Crisis? Could he be panicked and potentially in Crisis? In extremes the human body and mind is capable of great feats but … There is no one there who could help him. Giles has no skills in bringing a Psi through more than a mild instance of Crisis. That kind of chaos taxes a team of Masters.// Thought of the Training Masters now onboard the Aphrodite caused him to straighten and sort control and order into his mind. He doubted that the Training Masters would have sensed this rather unique link even though they did have a monitoring unit networked and installed throughout the Aphrodite. It had felt so real, so clear and so very strong to him yet he instinctively knew that it was in fact a very select and very delicate touch that he had encountered. It was entirely possible that it was perhaps too subtle a contact for them to pick up, even with the equipment they had brought aboard the Aphrodite. They might not even have the monitoring equipment fully operative at this early stage of the voyage. This ability that he sensed in Milliardo's touch, as subtle as it was and despite the strength that he sensed was undeniably and undoubtedly something unknown to them all and he would have to tell the Training Masters. He was not a fool and he could not keep this kind of potential secret from those men and women who were going to have to train control and stability and functionality into something very new and rather unique. Just not now. He was not going to tell them at this exact time. Later would be soon enough. The Aphrodite had been equipped with a full Psionic Laboratory and three secured and shielded suites for the exclusive use of any Psi on the ship who might require isolation for any length of time during the voyage. There were only two other ships in the Alliance fleet that could boast as well equipped facilities focusing on the unique needs of a talented mind and one of those ships was only weeks away from Mars, far closer than the more than three months it would take for the Aphrodite to reach the planet. That ship had been diverted toward the Red Planet immediately the distress call had come in from his agents but it was too far away to offer aid if Milliardo should experience the full chaos of a major crisis. // He will need shielded and isolated quarters until the ship can reach him regardless of whether or not he enters a major crisis . After the stress of what ever is happening on Mars that has induced this contact he will need resting time. I might need to have a private word with Howard over a secured line and tell him my suspicions concerning Milliardo. I would trust him to prepare shielded quarters and to do what he could to ensure Milliardo is protected from himself and others in a crisis situation. It may not come to that though, but I must be prepared in the event that it is necessary. The Peacemission is only days away from Mars and my best hope of getting help to Giles to control emergent talents. What is it that links us? I know that the distances which now lie between us should make this kind of contact impossible but I also know that it was real. Could he contact others? Or is it peculiar only to those bred by Romefeller? What did they write into us before we were even conceived? It has such frightening potential and no matter which way I turn everything that happens seems somehow to ultimately lead back to Romefeller. Are those bastards responsible for this kind of bond and if so is it by design or accident that we seem capable of reaching each other? What would they have wanted such a binding for? Is it deliberately created or is it an accident of birth that we are so linked? I know so little of their schemes though I keep myself informed as best I can considering their security. I need access to their breeding records to try to make some sense of what they were intending to use us for. // He turned from the view of space and moved to settled himself in the deep wing backed chair beside which Maurice had placed the brandy. He certainly felt the need for that richly coloured liquid just now. He was tired. Too tired he knew to deal with all of the implications offered by this chance contact with the man he most wished to see. He would enjoy the brandy and he would have a quiet time as he allowed the dark amber liquid to work its soothing magic on his weary body and mind. It would give him the chance to relax enough to sleep or when he most needed to function with precision he would fail and he simply could not fail that blonde. Too many people had already failed that one. //I know that when you come to me you are going to want answers to questions you are only now realizing must be asked. Answers that I can not give you for the most part because in truth I am as much in the dark as you. Be assured my dearest Milliardo that what I do know I will tell you. I promise you, my Milliardo, even though you are not here to hear me. I promise, that I will tell you all that I know and what I surmise of our common past and I will be there to help you deal with the horror that knowledge will visit upon you. It is in truth better that you know than exist in ignorance. For the sake of your children you will need to learn it all and I will not pity you any more than I pity myself. // “We four, myself, you and the children are all cast from the same mold. Be safe, Milliardo. Be safe.”
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