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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 147 Mars Colony Base Dome 2nd March AC 198 Time: 01:47 [approx Sanc time 23:37] Barker //Well now. Private concerns interested in seeing that justice is done? That statement is notable for how careful you have been to avoid naming those ‘concerns’. I find that interesting and definitely worthy of note to the Preventers at a later time. Private security is it? If that should indeed be the case then no doubt you must be pulling one hell of a pay check.// Polnar was again looking toward Carter and the door, no doubt concerned that there might be ears to hear what he obviously did not wish to be generally known. The man gave every appearance of wanting to maintain secrecy. Barker knew that private companies would be more than interested in Mars and for varied reasons. At this time the Preventers had expected the big corporate mining concerns to begin assigning their personnel to Mars in order to judge the potential of the planet’s projected trade capabilities. Portfolios detailing resources available and the projections for profit margins by exploiting those resources were sent to all companies involved in mining in space. Many of the larger companies tended to consider it accepted practice to dispatch representatives of their own on the quiet to confirm the potential for profit and expansion should they invest their share holders’ money’s in new mining concerns. Mars was a young colony almost ready for open slather trading and the potential for profit would attract the bigger companies like bees to pollen. Une had not seemed to be concerned with the prospect of such corporate agents visiting Mars and their potential reactions to their discovery of the presence of Milliardo Peacecraft. The lack of directives regarding such scenarios was a fact that had disturbed Barker from the beginning of his tenure on Mars. While Une seemed unconcerned certain members of the ESUN government seemed to be all too attentive to possible reactions from the public to the news that the boogie man was alive and well, hence the current situation. It worried him but the Preventer Chief had made no mention of her concern to him as her official representative on Mars and indeed his mission statement was remarkably blank on how to deal with corporate interference or protest to the presence of the Peacecraft on the planet. //She has always struck me as a canny woman. Does she have plans for Him? Maybe. He is a Preventer and I have that from the Lady herself but still, I would have thought she would have detailed some course of action to be taken in the event there is trouble from private concerns. I don’t know. I doubt I could ever keep up with that woman. She’s not a fool but still … she was out on the timing of this idiocy and that just proves that she is not infallible. This speculation is getting me nowhere. I have to get my ass into gear and get on with the matters at hand. Namely determining how far I trust Polnar now that I know he is working for outside concerns?// "I may have a means by which we can leave the room unseen." Polnar turned back to him with a rueful grin and earned his undivided interest with that quietly spoken statement. With Frazier parked in front of that door he dared not set foot outside the room and he could not remain in the ward indefinitely. "The problem is that movement is not likely to be exactly silent or fast and I would imagine that if that man out there is at the very least merely competent at his work, and being Blue Squad you can bet your ass he’s more than competent, he should have taken a head count of the bodies that entered this room. If none of us exit the room within the next, say fifteen minutes or so, his curiosity has to be aroused." //Point. A very valid point. The question is just how accurate a head count would he have been able to take? With the jumble of bodies that was gathered around the door and the fact that I’m not already dead they can’t have noted everybody that entered. I would estimate with the milling around probably somewhere around seven to ten would be the count considering the crush we made getting in here. If they had spotted me then I don’t think we would be standing here now contemplating the weather outside. Damn, I don’t want us to split up but I don’t think there is much choice. I still want to keep an eye on Polnar.// "What’s your out?" Carter stirred by the door, turning his attention from the empty hallway to the men with him. "The hallway’s clear for the moment." Polnar nodded briefly to acknowledge the assurance and in silence lifted a finger. For a moment Barker stared at him and then followed the line of that pointing digit and smirked. "The ceiling vents would give us access to the ventilation system and from memory the ducts around here are a reasonable size. Movement should not be a problem though silent movement is another matter entirely." "Ah. Yes. Damnably noisy if we are not careful." Barker eyed the cover with narrowed eyes judging how much room there would be to climb into the vent and deciding that none of them would have a problem fitting. "The more of us in the ventilation shafts the more noise we would make. One on his own could be relatively silent but any more than that and we would have to be heard in every room we crossed." There was potential for unrestricted movement for at least one of their number if they used the vents and considering the extensive network that serviced the sub base he had to wonder just who he might run across while crawling through the ducts. An altercation in the restricted space would be far from pleasant should he meet someone he would have to class as unfriendly. Anyone crawling through the ventilation system would have to be considered an enemy unless they could do some very fast talking before a fight eventuated. However movement in the vents would not be totally silent so he would have some form of warning to prepare before he came face to face with potential trouble. "From what the doctor said the room we want is only two access grills down from this one. It would have to be in a straight line and presumably there would be clear vision between here and there. In the event of trouble a light source could be used to provide a basic signal without the need to call out." Polnar bent to gather up a bloodied pillow and sailed the soiled piece of bedding out the door. At the look he received from Barker he shrugged and motioned to the door. "Well, we have to be seen to be doing something and we were assigned to clean the room." Barker could not quite restrain the smirk. "Yeah, we were and that can be used to our advantage." He was thinking fast now, taking into account the instructions the emergency response team had been issued. "That might just be the best method to get you and Carter out of here. My face is known to every member of Blue Squad and that makes me the one to tackle the ventilation system. You two could take the mattress for disposal and given the current situation that should not be considered suspicious. It would put you in the hallway and give you the opportunity to pass close to Frazier and be free to act once you dump the mattress. If we time this right you should be able to get deeper into the base. Maybe even do a couple of runs, get him used to you moving around out there and if he should hear anything untoward from the room you might be close enough that you could take him down quickly and efficiently. If the situation came to that." Carter glanced out into the hallway in time to see a nurse with a bundle of bloody bedding exit the room on the opposite side of the hallway. He held up a cautioning hand to still the conversation and motioned them to be silent. "That might work from the looks of it." He bent to scoop up a bloodied blanket and with a deeper breath stepped out into the hallway took two steps away from the door and tossed the bundled blanket down on the pillow Polnar had unceremoniously turfed out the door a few seconds before. He glanced up after kicking the bundle into a firmer and more compact pile, timing his movement to watch Frazier nod briefly to the nurse as she passed him. The ESUN agent took no further notice of her as she hurried on and Carter restrained a grin as he returned to the room. "Okay, that should work. He nodded to her and let her go past. No questions, no inspection of what she was carrying. He just noted who it was and kept to his place by the door." Barker considered that neglect a bonus. If the two men could gain free movement around the medical center during the clean up then that was to be made full use of. It did, however, suggest that Frazier was going to be very difficult to coax to move away from that door. If he made any mistakes in the ventilation system then the man might well hear him and that would be the end of any chance they had of speaking to Merquise on the quiet. "That will work for us. We have no idea how long Simpson is going to be distracted by Broadham so we had best not delay any longer than necessary. Carter, keep a watch on the hallway and do your best to make it look like we are alive and active in here without attracting undue attention. Polnar get over here and give me a hand to get the vent cover off." Carter promptly moved further into the room and proceeded to drag a bundle of soiled bedding over to his chosen position by the door and proceeded to strip the pillowcases from the pillows. At Barker’s curious look he tossed a pillow case out the door with a cheeky grin and leaned against the wall. //I definitely want that man as a Preventer and if I can I want to keep him under my command here on Mars. That is, I want him here if we still have a colony after this mess is sorted.// Polnar assisted Barker in lifting the bed and moving it as silently as possible to a position under the ceiling vent and together they climbed onto the framework and studied how the grill was secured. With a grunt Polnar began feeling his pockets and quickly produced a multi tool device from which he pried the required screwdriver head and set to unscrewing the cover. After a couple of seconds he grunted and shook his head in displeasure as he glared at the offending screw he had chosen to work on. "Damn. For some reason they always screw these bloody things down tighter than they need to be." Barker grunted leaning around the stretching man to keep an eye on the door and Carter who was watching them. He had decided what they would do to give them the best opportunity to take advantage of the current situation. He could not see them shifting the agent in the hallway quietly and for now he preferred stealth. They could always try the frontal approach if necessary but for now he wanted to be as unobtrusive as possible. "When I get into the vent I want you to remain in this room for as long as possible. Give me a few minutes to see if the ventilation system does indeed lead to the treatment room. From the blueprints I saw of the base these things are a maze but I agree with you that it should be a straight run. If the vents are straight forward I would think there would be only the one grill between here and the room that we want. I would think there would be a vent opening to the main treatment room itself. At worst, maybe a closet access or the attached storage room. Hopefully I can attract Merquise’s attention, your partner’s at the least without alerting Frazier to what is going on." Carter tossed a pillow out of the door as he watched the two men struggle with the grill and winced as Polnar hissed as the screw resisted his efforts to shift it. With quiet cursing and perseverance the stubborn screw finally began to turn and Carter released the breath he had been holding. He had not realized that he was that tense. First one screw and then a second was removed and Carter’s attention was pulled from checking the hallway was clear when Polnar began muttering about cross threaded screws. "Fucking useless bastards couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag let alone … Shit!" Barker lunged forward almost losing his balance and falling from the bed frame but he held his balance and managed to grip the tilting cover before it dragged the last screw out. His fingers closed tightly on the frame and he teetered on the edge of the bed frame until Polnar twisted and gripped his belt, steadying him. "Thought it would be a tighter fit than that." Polnar muttered. "Sorry. Guess that explains the tightness of the screws." Barker sighed softly as Polnar sidled around him carefully and began to coaxed the now twisted fourth screw from the cover. "Let’s hope the one in the treatment room fits a little tighter. I’d hate for it to fall out at the wrong moment if I can get in to Merquise. Carter is the hallway still clear?" "All quiet." The final screw dropped into Polnar’s waiting hand and from there into a pocket as he watched Barker set the grill to one side on the bed, lying it flat to avoid the possibility of it falling noisily from the bed and drawing unwanted attention. The Preventer then moved under the vent and after a moment made a carefully graded jump to earn a secured grip on the edge of the vent with strong hands. For a moment he hung from the edge and then with a soft grunt pulled himself steadily up until his head vanished into the vent. For a long few seconds he hung there, head turning slowly as he looked in both directions the vent ran and then dropped to the bed. "Right gentlemen, it looks very much like we are in business. There’s a dim light in the vent and I believe it is coming from the direction of the next room. I don’t believe that I will need more than that light to guide me and it will enable me to keep my hands free." He motioned to Polnar and both men stepped off the bed and manhandled it out from under the vent. Barker glanced up at the vent and then at Carter who signaled the all clear. "Give me a hand up to get into the vent. Hang around in the room as long as you can while I make my way down to the room we think Merquise is in. If I can I’ll get back to you with a plan based on what he can tell me before you have no choice other than to leave the ward. You had best secure this vent in case anyone comes by to have a chat." "Two screws should do it." Polnar agreed and positioned himself directly under the vent. "Carter can give me a hand to move the bed around when you’re on the way. If you stand on my back you should have plenty of height to get into the vent." Barker stepped back onto the bed. "If I can talk to Merquise even from the vent we may be able to arrange a little surprise for Simpson and his buddy. At the least I should learn what has happened in the interim. Wait here for me to get back to you unless you have no choice other than to move on for any reason. If we do get separated try to remain in the area as close as you dare but don’t arouse suspicion. I’ll see if I can find you." The last thing he actually wanted to do was separate the group when they were so close to being able to do something decisive about the agents. One of the invaders, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, albeit in combat fatigues, was just a few meters down the hallway and it went against the grain that he not take the man out. With a little bit of luck and a few minutes grace they might be able to take him down and be ready to face Simpson when he returned. "Any message for your partner?" He hesitated, one foot resting on Polnar’s broad back. Polnar was bent over, hands braced against his thighs as he prepared to take Barker’s weight and support him while he worked his way into the ventilation system. "Tell him to watch his back and I’ll see him soon." Polnar grunted as Barker stepped onto his back and the Preventer grasped the lip of the vent and pulled himself up. Working his upper body into the vent was easy, it was dragging his hips and legs through once he had to release his grip on the edge of the vent that tested him. He heard Polnar grunt and braced himself, stiffening his knees and Polnar began to straighten, giving him a boost and he was in, working his way clear of the gaping hole in the floor of the vent. The vent had looked roomy enough before but he determined that it might have been roomier. In height he was barely able to get his knees under him and he decided a belly crawl might be more appropriate. "Well, I won’t be turning around in here." He sighed. "Roomy enough I suppose as ventilation systems go but not that roomy." "I’ll put the grill back now in case we get visitors." Polnar’s voice, though barely above a whisper echoed eerily in the vent and Barker winced. "Carter, give me a hand to shift the bed back so I can reach will you?" Barker sighed and began to inched his way carefully forward trusting the two men he left behind him to cover every trace of the operation. He tried moving on his knees and quickly lowered himself to his belly certain that every scrape of his boots against the metal vent walls was going to be audible well in advance of his progress from the rooms ahead of his position. He was quick enough to lever himself back up to his hands and knees at the scrape of his belt buckle against the floor of the vent and cursed softly. There was not going to be sufficient room for him to get his belt off in the confined space and he could not chance that distinctive sound of metal against metal being noticed. He was going to have to crawl on hands and knees and be thankful that the height of the vent at least permitted that much freedom of movement. While he had the room he had to restrict himself to move slowly and carefully and in order to keep his noise down to an absolute minimum. It seemed to take an impossibly long time for him to cover the distance between the ward he had started from to the next ward along the hallway but the light grew steadily stronger though it was never more than a dim glow in the vent and then the grill was in front of his fingers and he could clearly hear the sounds of movement from within the room. From memory he determined that Kurtz, Palmer and Markos should be working in that room and he crept forward lowering himself carefully to peer into the room from the vent. //Damn. Can’t see squat. The angle’s all wrong. Just the foot of the bed and … That’s better.// Preston Kurtz stepped into the restricted view unfolding a body bag and Barker winced at sight of the black plastic. Neither of the other two men were visible and no one was speaking but if they were dealing with a body or two he could understand their somber mood. Careful not to place any of his weight on the grill itself he lifted himself to hands and knees and was just lifting one hand to move forward when Palmer’s voice echoed in the vent. "So what do you give for our chances of coming out of this mess alive?" Barker paused and glanced back through the grill. Kurtz had turned his head and paused in opening the bag. "Don’t make the mistake of starting to looking on the down side, Bryce. We know we have trouble but we are not alone in dealing with it and keep your voice down. We don’t want to attract any attention." "Yeah, yeah, I know. What do you think about that trouble we left in the other ward? Barker looked far from happy." "That is none of our concern at this time. Barker will handle that but I doubt the man is one of Them. I’d say he would have had multiple opportunities to take down Barker and Carter if he was a killer working against us. My money would be on him being an agent for a mining consortium. Some of the big ones send in undercover men to check out every aspect of an operation before they commit themselves to investment." // That was my thought too.// Barker mused and looked forward trying to pick out the dim glow that would mark the location of the treatment room and hopefully an interview with Merquise. He could not afford to hang about here too long. "I’d say he’s more likely to be Mining Consortium Security." Markos commented. "He’s not a pencil pusher or an accountant and I know they employ ex military types since the wars ended. Only the smartest and best go into the Consortium’s security services and if they heard a whisper of Peacecraft’s presence here you can bet your boots they would send in their own men to investigate." //Mining Consortium Security? Yes, now that has possibilities. I need a good look at his partner. Maybe they are Consortium.// "You know, I’d love to have a credit for everyone who actually knows that man is alive and on Mars. How anyone realistically expected to keep his survival quiet I don’t know." Kurtz muttered. "With the traffic we get through here and the constant little chats the radio operators are known to have with passing ships com officers it stands to reason that the news has to leak out. Tell someone it’s a secret and you guarantee gossip." //I’d wondered about that myself.// "Agreed and that being the case it would appear the information has to have leaked to sensible people who are not prone to panic." Markos responded. "Think about it. I can’t believe the com officers would not share such news, even unconfirmed rumors of Merquise’s survival with their First Officers. Any sensible First Officer would make a beeline for a chat with his Captain and any responsible Captain would pass the word along to his contact supervisor on the Board of Directors of what ever company he worked for. When you think about it that’s quite a paper trail, don’t you agree? There must be a hell of a lot of people who know Merquise is here." Barker eased himself carefully over the grill. //Damn. They do have a point. I’ve wondered before how the news of his survival has been kept quiet and distance has a lot to do with it, no doubt. Earth is a bloody long way from Mars but technology is shortening that distance all the time and with the colony just about ready to open up to general colonization there will be a lot more people passing through once trade begins. I would have thought there would be a lot more rumors making the rounds at the least. I’m the official representative of the Preventers in this area and I’ve not been notified of any such rumors sweeping the Earth Sphere. There’s something wrong there. Hardly a day goes by that the press from one colony or another or from somewhere on the Earth itself does not print something about the former world sovereign having been seen alive. Suspected to be living incognito on L1, spotted on L4, a blurry photograph taken at a resort in the Mediterranean … While I was at Preventers in Sanc I dealt with at least two cases a week of people convinced they saw Kushrenada alive and well. Yet oddly enough there was no one who mentioned Peacecraft. I guess the bogey man was just too frightening to hoax about.// The voices of the men fell to echoing whispers as he made his way through the vent and he thought he heard something about the body being moved before he was too far from them to hear more. The light of the next opening seemed to get no closer to him and he found himself sweating with the exertion. He would have expected the vent to be flowing with cool air but that seemed not to be the case and he was worried that there might be a developing fault with the sub base environmental systems. Those men so casually passing the time of day behind him had best find themselves in the computer room with all haste. They could not afford malfunctions or sabotage to add to their woes. He paused to wipe the beading sweat from his brow and rubbed a hand over his eyes for good measure, hoping that the grill ahead of him might seem that little closer when he again looked. So close and soon he would answer his questions if the doctor had the right of the situation. What he needed was to find that Merquise was indeed in that room and ideally for the man not to be out for the count. An awake and aware Zechs Merquise primed and ready for action was what he needed. What he needed was a full briefing on the current situation and the means and opportunity to devise plans that would permit them to take out the agents intent on killing and sabotaging the Mars project. He needed to sort out the mess and get the base back to working order. If the base dome had been sabotaged to the point it was not quickly repairable then he had to arrange a means by which they could transfer people to the larger Alpha Dome. Killers running around loose was bad enough but a malfunctioning environmental system was another matter entirely. Until they had the opportunity to run a total system check they really needed to transfer the terra formers and there was still the problem of those trapped outside the dubious safety of the base dome to be considered. //Some of those poor bastards will have spent more than twenty four hours in an enviro suit by morning. God. They must be so bloody uncomfortable. No, uncomfortable is so inadequate a description for what they must be going through. Give me just a little longer, people. I’m doing the best that I can for you. I will have you in the dome and safe. I just hope the dome will not be the death of us all if they have sabotaged the systems. // One more careful reaching stride, body hunched and trembling from the strain. His knees were protesting the hardness of the metal under them and the strain of keeping his feet elevated as he moved to reduce noise. That grill he had sought was suddenly directly under his head and he stifled the sigh as he slowly lowered himself to stretch out in the vent. Carefully, silently he inched forward until he could stare down through the grill and into the treatment room. //Shit. What a thrilling view. The foot of the bed and the floor in front of it. Wonderful.// He strained and angled himself as much as possible trying to catch sight of anyone in the room, not daring to move more than the raised upper half of him for fear of making a noise and alerting potentially unwanted ears to his presence. //No sign or sound of anyone moving around. Was he right? The room seems empty.// He had the option of calling softly for Wind but he was not inclined to draw attention to himself if Wind proved not to be present. In the time it had taken him to crawl from the first of the wards to this treatment room anything might have happened. Frazier or even Simpson might have entered the room or moved on and if Merquise was mobile he might have made a run for it while the opportunity existed. Anything might have happened. He dared not call attention to himself until he was certain the room was either occupied by allies or proven to be empty. If he startled anyone occupying the room they might make some noise that could alert Frazier and bring him running. At this time, that was not a desirable outcome. //Damn it. It’s too quiet. If someone is in there for Christ’s sake will you at least cough? Sneeze even. Give me some sign that the room is not empty.// Straining, listening and still nothing. No sound of movement, no faint rustle of clothing or bedding and certainly no voices to break the silence. He scrubbed at his jaw, uncertain what his next move should be but the ventilation shaft around him was brightened by light from a second grill a few meters further along the shaft and he recalled that someone had said that there was a store room connected to the treatment room. That opened up possibilities to explain the silence. //Maybe they decided to move into the store room. It would make sense. Anyone coming through the door to the treatment room might be set off guard to find it empty.// "I hate waiting. It seems like hours since they appeared. It’s too quiet out there. No one seems too fussed about coming in here to investigate." He froze at the sound of that quiet voice. It was not a voice that he recognized and he strained trying to shift the angle of his vision and catch a glimpse of the speaker. "Be thankful for it, Giles." //Merquise! I’d know that voice anywhere. Thank God. Maybe now we can get this sorted.// There was a small, tinny rattling sound he identified as metal on metal. "Are you sure about this?" The man’s voice sounded doubtful. "Are you sure it’s going to work?" //I presume that would have to be Polnar’s partner. He seems to be getting on alright with Merquise but then I very much doubt that Merquise knows what this Giles person is actually doing on Mars.// "No." Merquise’s voice sounded tired and there was a worrying undertone Barker identified as pain. //Doc must have been right. He’s hurt.// "Damn. Zechs, I wish for once you would lie. At least it might make me feel better." He resisted the urge to grin at the slightly annoyed tone of that voice and reflected that if it was him in the same situation he might have made a similar comment. The voices of both men were low, Merquise a husky rumble and Giles’ tone a low tenor and though they were not whispering they were not speaking in the normal register. He felt reassured that both men were where he had been told they would be found. Now he could finally get this briefing underway and get those people into the dome. "Why lie or bend the truth? We both know well enough how much shit we are in." The deep voice was accompanied by the faint creak of the bed and the rustle of either clothing or bedding. Barker frowned at the hitch of breath that accompanied that movement. "Are you alright?" He detected genuine concern from the speaker. "Yes, fine considering what has happened. I just want this mess finished and Noin moved into the hospital." There was the sound of movement and again the bed creaked. "Feel any more comfortable?" A low grunt was the only answer and the man sighed. "They can’t have your kids. I don’t think they would be here now doing what ever it is they are doing if they did have the babies. They would be more likely to be going around killing indiscriminately if they had the kids." "I know." His voice was little more than a whisper and there was a wealth of pain in that low rumble. "It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault." "Tell that to the families of the dead." Barker decided he had heard enough The two men seemed to have a fair understanding of each other and he was reminded that time was marching on. Polnar and Carter would not be able to remain in that ward forever and he needed to confirm their course of action with Merquise and get back to them if at all possible. He pressed his face to the grill, trying to see any hint of movement. "Wind?" t.b.c.
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