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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"
2nd March AC 198 Peacemission H65193P Sanc Registry Date: 2nd March AC 198 Time: 8:40 [Ship time is as for Sanc] Howard
Gnarled but dextrous fingers flicked over the series of controls on his desk and Howard leaned back in his oversized chair closing his eyes against the sight of the cabin ceiling.The message his com officer had dispatched to the distant Bounty was acceptable and couched in the language he normally used. It gave away nothing of the reason for their presence yet held a personal touch offered only from Sweeper to Sweeper. Normally a communication between Sweeper and Preventer, or any civil authority, would be handled far less casually than this communiqué had been. His com officers were well aware of what style of message to send, depending on who he was replying to. Duo might serve with the Preventers at this time but he had been a Sweeper brat, and Howard fondly hoped he would become one again. He would look forward to receiving the next communication from Duo which should be forthcoming sometime within the next ten minutes. It had been entirely too long since they had shared a conversation and caught up with the activities of the other. Duo undoubtedly would have enjoyed taking part in the shakedown cruise of the Peacemission. //What the hell possesses you to stay with the Preventers, boy? There’s a place for you here when you are ready and I personally hope that won’t be much longer. You survived the war and you’ve been a Preventer long enough for you to start working the adrenaline out of your system.// He had seen too many of the men and women who had fought in the war struggle to come to an understanding within themselves. They needed to cope with surviving, living where others around them had died. They needed to learn to find their centre and accept they had a place within the peace. Young or old, it was the same amongst those who had fought for the peace and were veterans of war. All too often it was the youngest soldiers, trained from childhood to fight, who had the greatest difficulty in adapting. While Duo had been spared the conditioning of such soldiers he had been young and he had been at the hub of the conflict through the worst of the war. //Not enough is being done for the poor bastards to help them adapt and find a place for themselves that fits comfortably. It’s not easy on the government to find places for those soldiers displaced by the peace, and Preventers and the Security Agency can take only so many. Raydon’s fairly raking them in if he feels they will fit into the Station environment, but there were a lot of soldiers. A lot of homeless, friendless poor bastards looking for something more.// It would occur to someone in the current pacifist regime eventually the homeless would seek more and if someone offered them a place they might very quickly earn the loyalty of the lost. Some enterprising individual intent on gaining position and prestige would begin to draw the displaced to them and establish their own private little army. //Not so different from what Raydon is doing though he seems to be taking them in in small compliments and seeing them settled, counselled and trained to fit in. It would be a good place for them to start again, the Stations. I just hope he can control events and convince the ESUN Council they are not out to start conflict. I’ve seen enough lives ruined as it is.// Involuntarily his eyes found the cluster of photographs of those he considered his family. Every single one of them had had their lives affected by war. Each life held personal tragedy that had shaped and moulded them into what they were. It was the same for every person on Earth and in the colonies. War affected every aspect of life and some inevitably suffered more than others. He was tired. He had put in a long night and he still had a long day ahead of him. Despite his efforts of the day thus far, and the plans he had laid, he felt there was more he should be doing. At least the coffee was good. Not that anyone onboard a ship of his would dare serve him anything other than decent freshly ground coffee. A man could put up with a lot of things in life but he personally could not put up with instant coffee. It was one of the few rules he enforced with a vengeance. Sludge was not his style, nor was a watered down excuse tasting like dishwater. It had to be the real thing, prepared fresh and brewed to perfection. //This is pathetic.// He rested the sunglasses on the desk and rubbed his eyes, hating the gritty feel. Dry eyes were a problem in space for him and he fumbled in a drawer for the drops, treating his eyes quickly and donning the glasses again. He had enough distractions without painful eyes. A thin wisp of steam rose near his elbow and he cradled the mug in shaking fingers. He was getting old. All-nighter stints had not used to bother him. Thank God for good coffee. The light gravity the Peacemission maintained when in flight was sufficient to keep liquids in cups and small items and equipment heavy enough not to float around a cabin if left unattended for any length of time. While most long-haul ships fluctuated their gravity capacity for days or even weeks at a time on zero-g, he had made modifications that permitted light gravity at all stages of flight. For a fraction of the cost in fuel his crews could have a real sense of up and down and less physical stress. The light gravity was enough to be comfortable to the human body but unfortunately it was not sufficient to make it feasible to stop taking the drugs. He glared at the small inoffensive white pill lying on the desk beside the steaming mug. Zero and near-zero gravity was kind to his aging bones but in the long term it was damaging. He knew the cost of being a stubborn idiot and not taking the pills, but that did not mean he had to like it. His aversion to drugs stemmed from his youth and watching the abuse such substances could be put to. He had been a wild bastard in his younger years, full of his ideas and certain he knew it all. //Thank God we grow up eventually.// He had come so close to ruining the world, and he could never deny his part in the chaos years. It was taking so long to fix his mistakes and he would never be able to fix them all. He would never be able to replace the lives lost to the evolved machines of the prototype he had crafted. It was he who had crafted the prototype mobile suit design that had evolved into the suits of today. Tallgeese had been his baby, his brainchild and all other suits had stemmed from its design. He owed humankind a debt he could never repay. The opening payments had not even been his own. He owed the young men and women who had come after him and given back to the Earth Sphere what his engineering skills had taken away. Peace. It was reprehensible that others should have been abused by the product of his imagination and total lack of foresight. He was just thankful he could take part in the drama to bring about the return of peace. //Old fool. What are you doing sitting here sipping coffee and glaring at a pill when you should be doing something constructive?// But he was doing something constructive. Idle as he was at present he was taking action against a serious breach of human rights. He had initiated a dangerous game of deception with the ESUN, one that could pull the Sweepers into dirty political waters and threaten their independence. It was a game he had not started lightly, but he could not ignore what was happening on Mars, and he alone of the Sweepers had not made the decision. The Captains of two other Sweeper vessels approaching Mars had a role to play in what would be happening, and there were also the ships out there laying the debris field. They had all agreed to this ruse though for differing reasons. Once begun it would be impossible to stop. They all needed to carry on to the end… whatever that might be. Lives hung in the balance and he dared not believe those lives would be spared simply because they were unfortunate enough to have been on Mars at this time. He needed every advantage to bring some basic human decency to the dead and to the betrayed. Howard mouthed the pill, washing it down with coffee and refusing to think what the ships medic would have to say. They had had the argument before, and undoubtedly would have it again, but not today. He had better things to do today than entertain that masochist who refused to see that taking pills with coffee had not hurt him. //What does it matter if the packet says ‘to be taken with water’? There is plenty of water in coffee and I’ve not turned green with purple spots yet.// Spread out over his desk, well clear of the precious coffee, were the latest round of calculations for the debris field. He was supposed to be working on fine tuning the timing for the second scheduled release to add to the debris. He needed to calculate the spread of the flotsam and have a reasonably sound grasp on the chaos which would ensue from the three fields converging into one. There would be collisions, it was unavoidable, but most of the pieces would be too small to be a potential threat. It was the larger pieces he needed to project a possible course for. The extent of the debris field and its density should be sufficient to slow down the Wellington’s pace, but he needed to avoid complications that might give their game away. Should some astute officer on the Wellington perform a detailed scan, and he would shoot his own people if they did not perform such a scan in the course of their duties, he would need a creditable explanation for any anomaly that might be detected. //Not that such a field would not have collisions between fragments even after being in space for this supposed length of time. Comparing it to the Asteroid Belt you would get a fair idea of the chaos factor that applies in such a body. This one has the momentum of a fairly hefty explosion and there is the effect of a nearing planet’s gravity well to be considered. It should be enough to allay any suspicions.// He was tired and before he faced the Captain of the Wellington he would need to acquire a few hours of sleep. To pull this ruse off he would need to be sharp to handle the man once the Wellington was near enough to detect the debris field and the hovering presence of the Peacemission. His opposite number was probably not going to be a happy individual, if he was a decent sort, given the nature of his mission. If he had a conscience the man might be easier to handle and more inclined to welcome an unforeseen delay. His eyes rested on the restless hands of the clock, glaring at the second hand as it made its relentless way about the clock face. If he could get some sleep the task ahead was sure not to seem so daunting. He could not have left this matter alone once it had been brought to his attention, and he really must remember to clip Raydon under the ears for not informing him sooner Merquise was alive. //Though he might well no longer be amongst the living. There could be a lot of dead on Mars already and we have no way of knowing for sure if we are doing this and it already is too late. There may be no one left alive to save.// It was a depressing thought. The chime announcing an incoming communication pulled him from his revere and he settled back in his seat as he read the notation from the com officer on duty. Yes, it was from the Bounty and he reminded himself he needed to arrange an up close and personal meeting with Duo at the first available opportunity. This was Preventer business. Why else would Duo be on the Bounty, a specialist long haul ship ? A ship slated for a routine patrol to the Asteroid Belt did not take agents for vacation cruises. Either Duo was hopping a ride on the ship to catch a ride with another vessel to take him to his destination, or he was on the Bounty for the course of her patrol. //I need to see if I can’t arrange a meeting with him. Float the idea past him of rejoining the Sweepers. We need some fresh young blood with good ideas and the boy was a more than passing fair mechanic. He’d make a decent design engineer with a bit of training, and at worst he could crew on one of the trade ships. I’d prefer him on Peacemission, of course, but I need to sound him out before any proposals are floated.// Reaching forward he toggled the message to play and settled back, his face immediately acquiring a scowl. //What the hell have you been doing to yourself, boy?// “Bounty, registry E106. Hey, how are things going, Howie? I feel I should apologize for not getting in touch with you more regularly on a face to face basis. Until I had this chance I hadn’t realized just how hectic things have been lately. I’m hopping a ride on the Bounty on a mission I really don’t understand, but I’m hoping to receive more detailed instructions soon. I’m guessing you saw the announcement by the Station Alliance and this Kristian Kushrenada. The Captain asked me to ask around to see if any of my contacts has heard of either the man himself or this Station Alliance. I’ve already told him I don’t know anything about either, and I know full well he’s the one who is going to have a better chance of getting some answers. Maybe you could ask around for me, huh? I’m having lunch with the Captain in around half an hour or so. Maybe I can delay it a bit longer if I’m lucky, but I was taught you don’t keep the Captain of a ship waiting. I wonder where I learned that from, eh? Anyway, I’m looking forward to hearing from you. We have so got to get back together. I miss … Well, I have to … Looking forward to hearing from you, Howard. Bounty out.” //That’s right, Duo, you never keep the Captain of a ship waiting. Glad to see the appropriate protocols have stayed with you.// A great deal had not been said. That was the impression he got from the message. Something in the stance of the young man, in the tension in his face and in the tone of his voice. He had been uncomfortable and uncertain what to say. Preventer business, no doubt, giving him problems. How much could he reveal without jeopardizing his oath to the organization that maintained the peace ? Duo took his bound word seriously. He had looked more than passing uncomfortable as he had grinned sheepishly into the camera. Howard stared at the frozen frame, noting the smudges beneath the bright eyes. He looked like he had crammed a full twenty-four hours into a six-hour day and still had much to do. Howard knew exactly how Duo felt and eased forward in his seat to stare at that tired face. “You’ve been keeping long hours, boy, and you are not looking happy at all. Something is worrying you and I don’t think it has anything to do with Raydon and his bunch of loons on the stations.” What was he to reply to this? The Captain of the Bounty was fishing for all the information he could get and it was exactly what Howard himself would do. Making full use of every resource at his disposal to acquire information was only sensible for any captain worth his salt. He would need to be careful how he replied as he was uncertain if he wanted anyone to know he did, indeed, know Kristian Kushrenada. //Although it is not exactly by that name I know the man. Still, they are one and the same and he is an odd sort, not that I can exactly tell Duo that.// Considering the young face that looked prematurely aged, Howard turned to the computer, inputting the coordinates the message had originated from and pulling up a map of the space lanes. In seconds he had a tiny blinking light in the vicinity of the orbit of Earth on screen, with the call code for the Bounty displayed above it. //Well, you are well out of the frame to have any effect on what is happening on Mars. It would take you months to reach Mars from there. I suppose my original supposition still stands. It’s the Asteroid Belt. Or you will be hopping another vehicle in a rendezvous to take you to wherever it is you are going.// To be of assistance on Mars, from an Earth launch, the Bounty would have had to launch eleven weeks prior to her actual departure. It was sheer good fortune Howard was in a position to help the situation, and that was not to aid the people on Mars directly, but to delay the Wellington from slamming the final nail into their collective coffins. //Not Mars, but maybe the mining colonies in the Belt. No doubt Raydon’s people are well aware of the schedule of the ship.// He pulled up from the computer all the information he could find on the Bounty and glowered at the long loop of her projected trajectory. The course of the ship would take them in a wide loop to the Asteroid Belt’s major hub of mining colonies, before returning to Earth in a little more than a year’s time. He could hope to learn more of Duo’s mission in future communications, and he had already decided he wanted to speak more with the younger man. “It’s been too long . I still have to sort out this summit meeting between the Stations and the ESUN.” He checked on the departure of the Bounty and shook his head slightly. “It is a bit of a coincidence, but the ship left orbit on a scheduled run before Raydon made his announcement. Still, it might be possible to divert the ship to act as security for the conference. I could have my face to face with Duo if he was a part of the crew and I do have to arrange security acceptable to both parties. A contingent from Station and a contingent from the ESUN working with my Sweepers… That might work.” He would have a few choice words to say to Raydon when they met face to face, and no doubt the man would have just the right answers to placate him. The cheeky bugger had always known exactly what to say to get his arse out of the fire. It was a skill he had developed over the years to an art form. //Not unlike Duo.// He had to chuckle at the thought. //I think they would like each other if they ever chanced to meet. Maybe I could arrange it.// The one good thing about space travel was you generally had a long time to plan. Work shifts were inevitably boring and there was only so much you could do to entertain yourself in your leisure hours. It generally led to a great deal of thinking about your life and the lives of others you interacted with. It allowed you to see your past mistakes from a number of differing viewpoints and cast new light onto the actions of others. His eyes slid invariably back to the picture of the pale blond who had put his fist to the jugular of the Earth. //Space travel gives you time to think and to look at things from new angles. I’ve been doing a lot of that in the last couple of years. Why didn’t you come to me, you idiot? Why didn’t you talk to me?// Because he wanted to involve as few of the people who had befriended him as possible on what he intended to be the losing side. The answer had been unavoidable once he had sat down and given the matter serious consideration. The heat of the moment had cooled and there was plenty of time to think and investigate the course of events that had taken place. The end of the war had not been so straightforward as the general population considered it. //The bad man shakes his stick at the good people and the hero shoves said stick down the bad man’s throat. Bad man dies. Good people celebrate and continue on with life as usual.// Howard closed his eyes and sighed. //Nothing is ever that simple, but somehow you made it work.// How much did he reveal to Duo? How much of what was happening out here, in his immediate vicinity, did he reveal to the boy he wanted to return to the fold of the Sweepers? Duo the Preventer might be a problem and he wanted to deal with the Duo he knew. He was fairly sure the young man would not spill the beans on anything he was told in strictest confidence, but over a long distance communication you could never be one hundred percent certain there were not eavesdroppers. Even with Yuy’s inventiveness when it came to security, there was always the chance of someone intercepting communications and decoding it. He’d seen enough of Raydon’s wonderboys on the Stations to know how secure even Sweeper communications might not be. He could not come right out and say he knew a great deal about both the Station Alliance and the man who headed said alliance. He could not betray that confidence at the present time though he could, and would, consider bringing Duo into his confidence. Maxwell understood the dividing line between discreet discussions and what might be passed on to others. //At this time I have no real need to mention the Preventer Cruiser to Raydon or his people. I have no doubt they already are aware she has left Earth orbit and is on her way to the Asteroid Belt. I might just be able to juggle events to bring Duo to the conference though. The coordinates Raydon’s people gave me for the conference to take place are not that far from the orbital position of Mars in another fourteen weeks.// His gaze dropped to the projected trajectory of the Bounty’s patrol and he nodded slowly. The position of the planet and the projected trajectory would bring the ship and planet into relatively close proximity. Factoring in the coordinates sent to him from Raydon’s people only widened his grin. //Yes, that has potential. The projection is enough
that while they are not in the exact same space, they would be close
enough to feasibly be of use. I might just be able to do something
with that. I’d need to check on the relative positions of other
Preventer and ESUN Security Agency ships due in the area about that
time. Looking at this estimate I think the Bounty might just be the
best suited to run a patrol in the area at the time of the conference.
Given this It was even possible the cruiser’s course and mission would be altered by order of the Preventers once the coordinates were sent through to Earth. He might not need to juggle events to have the cruiser diverted from her assigned mission. The dignitaries from Earth and the Colonies would insist on regular patrols through the area in advance of their arrival. Such trusting souls they were, he mused. He could not imagine for an instant they would leave security to the Sweepers, and he would need to be on his guard to catch any instances which might escalate into unwelcome difficulties. Raydon would bring his own security service and no doubt he would have ships scouting the area and tracking the comings and goings of all vessels in the vicinity. The ESUN Security Agency would be unlikely to leave the matter up to Preventers and with the Sweepers managing the area that could mean rather a lot of ships and multiple opportunities for misunderstandings. //Not much changes, even with the peace in effect. Some days I have to wonder if we learned anything at all from the past; and especially from Libra. It must break his heart, after all he sacrificed to bring into effect peace, to know it is so fragile and delicate a thing.// Still, it was only sensible for all parties to gain knowledge of the area. Even a location in the middle of nowhere, literally, needed to be secure. With the faction fighting he had watched develop over the last year on Earth he would not be taking security lightly. Before he dispatched the conference coordinates to Earth he would initiate a scan to determine the number and types of ships that might make it to the conference zone, given the time scale involved. He was not inclined to like surprises at the parties he hosted. //It would be good to have a face to face with Duo and find out if he is amenable to the idea of joining the Peacemission’s crew. He’d be a handy sort to have onboard on a cruise beyond the Belt. I’ve always wanted to go as far as Saturn and maybe a little jaunt to Jupiter would be interesting. I need to check out the potential for a Sweeper colony or two in the mid-zone and outer system before the ESUN get their grubby paws into the area and claim it.// He could not deny the wisdom in Raydon moving to secure boundaries for the Station Alliance before the ESUN moved out beyond the hub in force. Indisputably someone, at some time, and positioned high in the government, would be greedy enough to want the entire solar system beneath the control of Earth. It was human nature to want more than one had. To want more than one actually needed. Space was vast and there was plenty of room for expansion. The construction of new colonies was a tried and true practise. After almost two hundred years of refinements they knew how to make a colony safe and stable, both structurally and economically. On planets such as Mars and on the moons of the outer planets domed cities could be constructed. There was room for expansion of the human race for hundreds of years but he had never been an idiot and he knew what would inevitably happen. Borders and boundaries would be established and people, for various reasons, would test them. Repeatedly. The establishment of accepted boundaries and borders was, thankfully, in the future and he had other matters requiring his attention. He could leave such contemplations for when there was a quiet period when they could resume Peacemission’s shake down cruise and the solitude of space granted him think time. He needed to reply to Duo’s message and then he was going to attend to his own personal needs. Sleep was not only a good idea, it was becoming imperative. He was becoming addle-headed and that simply would not do. After he had gained a few hours of sleep he could attend to the calculations for the debris field which, at the moment, looked like a lot of random numbers some computer had sprouted out of a nightmare. The calculations refused to make any sense and he knew when not to push. He would need to be well rested and psychologically balanced when he established communications with the captain of the Wellington, and somehow manage to keep a straight face and speak civilly to the man. He knew what the Wellington’s mission entailed and he could not afford to give away that knowledge. In the contact to come he must maintain all the civilities and mannerism of a ship’s Captain passing the time of day with another ship’s Captain. From polite trivialities they could then move on to his warning of the danger ahead and hope the man would welcome a delay. //I hope he’s a decent sort who does not want anything to do with the mission as we assume it to be. A rescue mission is one thing, but a mission to cover up a massacre is another thing entirely. I can sprout bullshit with the best of them but I don’t have to like it.// His gaze wandered back to the picture of the long-haired pale blond and he sighed. He had actually liked the boy and had not understood what the youngster was doing or why he would do it. Temporary insanity, he had thought, underestimating the man as so many others had. The quick solution: call him a nut case and consider the matter neatly closed. So easy and so entirely wrong. Rubbing his fingers against the bridge of his nose he wished he liked drugs more. He had a foul headache and if it continued to grow exponentially he would need to take painkillers to have any hope of sleeping. //I’ll make you a promise, boy. I’ll not let them simply waltz in and wreck whatever new life you have managed to build for yourself and confine you in a cage. I’ll somehow see you get out from under their influence and have the chance to start again. Whether that start is with the Sweepers, or with Raydon’s Stations, it does not matter. I’ll give you options and then I’ll back your decision to the hilt. This continued silence from Mars is worrying. We should have had something over the standard relay bands or a pure signal sourced from Mars by now, but there has been nothing. If the silence continues I will have no other option than to believe whatever Raydon hoped his agents could accomplish has failed. There simply may not have been sufficient warning for anyone to act and it is all over bar the shouting.// Or Merquise was pig headed enough not to cooperate with Raydon’s people and they were resisting each other as much as the ESUN. The communications chime jolted him from his thoughts, alerting him to a second incoming message and he frowned. He had not been expecting any calls for a number of hours. The com officer knew to filter his calls and he had established a call rota with his allied Captains. He was not expecting word from Raydon who would undoubtedly have enough to do without bothering him needlessly. Flicking his fingers over the required sensor pads he called up the data on the call and his eyebrows lifted at the call signature. “The Bounty?” His fingers flew over the keys and the screen broke into a field of static which cleared to display a particularly sheepish and worried looking Duo Maxwell. There had only been a few minutes between the dispatch of the individual communications, but in this second missive Duo looked even worse than he had before. Not since the final days of the war, when Milliardo Peacecraft had waged a war of attrition on the Gundam Pilots with his Mobile Dolls to exhaust them, had he seen Duo look so bad. “You look like death warmed over, boy. What’s been going on, I wonder?” A touch of a finger to the appropriate controls and the frozen picture jerked and broke into static then steadied. With motion the tired blue-violet eyes softened a little and the tension in him seemed to ease. “Bounty … Howard, I’m not sure I’m supposed to mention … Well, I am sure I’m not supposed to talk about it actually, but you … “ He was tightening up, Howard noted, the wide shoulders hunching in and he was almost certain out of the screen shot Duo would have been twisting the end of that braid. “Well, I know you had a high regard for the man before he went off the rails. It’s all hush-hush and everything and I only recently learned it but …” To Howard it looked like the words were being dragged out of him. Duo was far from comfortable with what he was saying and Howard caught his breath in expectation, knowing something had pushed Duo over his own established boundary. Whatever was going on so far from the Peacemission seemed to have disturbed Duo enough to cause him to break confidentiality. Given how the boy’s morals were engineered by his past it had to be a serious conflict between his oath to Preventers and his personal moral integrity. “I’m supposed to be heading to Mars but I’m not sure if that is going to be changed in light of the Station Alliance coming on the scene. You must have picked up the distress message from Mars, as well as Kushreneda’s announcement. If you are in any position to respond to that distress alert you should … Well … Howard, Merquise is on Mars and in the middle of that mess. I don’t know what you will want to do about it, or if you even care, or are near enough to try if you wanted to, but … Well … God … The ESUN couldn’t leave it alone. He’s there if you do want to do something.” The last rush of words was almost a jumbled garble of pain. Duo seemed to both age dramatically and regress to the look of a small child who had let slip a secret. It had cost him to say that much and stomp all over his oath as a Preventer to keep his missions secret. Howard scowled, watching as Duo hesitated, his hands trembling before he shrugged. He looked like he had just betrayed his best friend but he had made the decision and he had spoken his warning, all unknowing of what Howard’s feelings for Merquise might have been. He might just have told a man who could kill dispassionately where to find his worst enemy. Howard certainly had the resources to effect such a coldly efficient demise for anyone who crossed his clearly defined line, and in the past he had taken such action. It was rare but it had happened and on more than one occasion. Both of those instances had involved the idiocy of his wild youth and the single-minded determination of a secret society to bring him to heel. On the screen Duo reached forward in a jerking motion and the screen froze. Howard settled back in his seat and studied the pained young face which looked years older than his actual age. Clearly Duo was uncertain if he had taken the appropriate action given the situation. The boy had known Merquise had spent time with him and that he had been more than a little disappointed in the man for his actions. They had not spoken about his feelings for Merquise or his actions, and in truth there had been no reason for them to discuss the man. That would need to change though, in time. The abrupt end to the message suggested Duo had sent it quickly, before he could change his mind, and no doubt trusted to Heero’s security to keep the communiqué secret. He would need to speak to the boy about such blind faith in his acquaintances’ abilities. Neither of the former Gundam Pilots knew about Station and the specialists working there. True, Yuy was good but there was always someone out there who was better. One always had to remember that. It might take a little time to break the encryption but to the hackers of higher skill such a challenge would be welcomed. //You told me Merquise is on Mars.// He leaned back in his seat, pushing his glasses higher up his nose and considered the ceiling in thoughtful silence. If the indiscretion should be discovered Maxwell would be in serious breach of contract. It was a jailable offence, might even be considered treasonable, given who it concerned. Merquise was considered a threat to the entire ESUN after all. Duo had just given away his location and practically begged for interference to be run. If others ever learned of this Duo’s head would roll. //You actually told me Merquise was there. You took a chance giving me this, Duo and I have to wonder why you did it. If I had not already known of his location I would be blessing you now.// If the ESUN Security Agency ever learned of the incident the results would not be a slap across the wrist. As one of the Gundam Pilots, Duo was watched at all hours of the day and night. They were not trusted but used to maintain the status quo, and those in power were afraid they might turn and bite the hand they had placed in control. To truly be free of the watch dogs Duo and the other pilots would have to leave the Earth Sphere. The only place they could go would be to set up an independent colony themselves, beyond the hub cluster… or go to the Station Alliance. Even as Sweepers there would be the risk of agents interfering in their lives. Sweepers visited colonies and he could not see any of those young men isolating themselves on Sweeper ships just to escape the eagle eye of the Security Agency. A quick glance up at the clock and he pursed his lips. He had limited time if he was to hope to get a response back to the boy before Duo’s dinner engagement with the Bounty’s Captain. The question still remained, how much he dared to tell Duo in return for this information. How much did he hint at without compromising what was soon to unfold? Any information concerning Station might be misunderstood in light of the unknown nature of the organization the ESUN suspected they were facing. //I’ll have to be careful what I tell you, not because I don’t trust you, but because I don’t know who might see the message. You are pretty sure of your security or you would not have named Merquise, but knowing what I do I have to make allowances for unwelcome eyes and ears. If it ever gets back to the government officials involved in this mess, your arse would not be worth the price of the toilet paper it takes to wipe it.// How much about what was happening on Mars did Duo know? If he was in transit to Mars now there was no way he could affect the outcome of the current incident. That simple truth suggested he had not been briefed on what would be taking place on Mars, beyond the general information Merquise was on the planet. He was a bright young man and could figure out the general idiocy involved, but it would be supposition, not fact. //To my knowledge you have never met Merquise face to face, so why would you take this risk? I don’t have enough pieces of the puzzle to understand your take on the situation.// The current events on Mars would be long over before the Bounty was in a position to have any influence on them. What, then, was the mission that brought Duo out into this sector of space? If he was bound for Mars, and he had said his mission was to Mars specifically, why was he headed there? It could be considered lunacy to think it could involve the confrontation now taking place. Something else then, but what? Something Lady Une was cooking up. //I wonder…// He stared at the photograph of the woman, brows lowering. //What are you up to, Anne? You can be a scheming manipulative bitch when you want to be, but you are watched, the same as the Pilots are being watched. You’ve sent Duo out into space on a mission… Ah. I wonder if that…. Perhaps. You might have been a very clever girl indeed, Lady, and if my suspicions are correct, Duo should be thanking you for this assignment.// He had too little time to make an accurate assessment and time was against him for more than merely assessing Duo’s assignment. He dared not delay any longer in sending a reply back to the Bounty. As it stood it was entirely possible Duo would miss his reply and already be at dinner with the Captain. He would need to suggest another time, one mutual to both, where they could have a conversation with little fear of disruption. Given the distance involved it would be a long conversation and it would not be exactly easy to keep continuity. He needed to allocate sufficient rest time for them both to be capable of clear thought. This long distance conversation would need to be managed carefully, given he had a busy night ahead of him and he could not delay the laying of the debris field to talk to Duo. Nor could he delay his conversation and dealings with the Captain of the Wellington. He would have to work around both of those events and not be distracted from performing at his best. Howard drew a deep breath, holding it for all of thirty seconds before exhaling slowly. He needed to work out the Bounty’s course and fuel requirements and see if he could not, in the very near future, arrange for the ship to be included in the security arrangements for the conference. He doubted Lady Une would object. She was, if nothing else, practical. If he could manage it, and on occasion even he considered himself to be a miracle worker, he needed to have Duo assigned to the security contingent to meet with the Sweepers. They could have a proper face to face chat and he could be assured of privacy. //All going well with this Mars incident, by the time Duo gets into this area Merquise will be settled safely away from the danger zone. I will need to consult with Raydon and I will need a convincing presentation to bring him onside. He won’t be too happy I want words with Merquise before he tries to spirit him off to Station One, but he will allow it. He will allow it or I’ll rake his arse over the coals for him.// Taking a second steadying breath Howard reached out to activate the recording sequence and settled back in his chair. He was careful to keep himself composed. Anyone might be witness to this message and he would take no chances. He would just have to hope Duo could read him better than most. “Nice to see you again, Maxwell. Enjoy your dinner with the Captain of the Bounty and be certain to remember your manners. Thank you for the information and I’ll ask around amongst my contacts for information on this Kristian Kushrena. It was much appreciated and I will see what I can do. Get some sleep. You look like you need it worse than I do. Give me a few hours to do some sniffing around and I’ll send you whatever I can come up with. It may take a bit of time given the wandering habits of my friends since the war ended. I’m expecting you to look a little more human when next I see your face on my screens. I will endeavour to come up with a date and time, maybe even exact coordinates for this meeting the Sweepers have been volunteered for. You may well learn this information before I do, given your line of work, but I will try. It’s been a busy morning on Peacemission and I have an even busier day ahead tidying up someone else’s mess. Be advised there is a debris field drifting over the shipping lanes on the approach vector to Mars for Earth-bound shipping. We are currently engaged in mapping the extent of the field and from the information we have available to us, it is projected it may take up to four weeks to clean up. That is a guestimate and our data is not complete. The encroaching gravity field of Mars will not help matters. Give my compliments to your Captain and request he extend a warning to outgoing shipping. We will be laying warning beacons in the coming hours. Get some rest and leave it with me. I’ll send you a message as soon as I learn something.” Flicking the deactivate key he considered the message and sighed. He was not particularly pleased with its contents but he was tired and he could not reveal what he knew. There should be enough there to make Duo aware of his approximate location and the boy was not an idiot. He should be able to work out a relative area for the Peacemission and know Howard enough to know he would look into the matter of the mess on Mars. The mess he had mentioned in the message would hopefully be taken as a referral to the debris field by any clandestine listeners, and indeed it was, though it also referred to the Mars incident. Duo might, or might not, figure out that oblique reference. Being the bright boy he was, Howard could hope Duo would understand the reference and read between the lines, and hopefully rest a little easier. //It will just have to do, I suppose. Raydon has requested I wait a day or so before dispatching the coordinates of the meeting and the date allocated to the Earth Sphere government. That should give me sufficient time to deal with the Wellington and hopefully have a chat with Raydon before I send a message to Duo again. Raydon has to travel further to make the rendezvous but given the bureaucracy of the ESUN it will take them longer to depart from Earth. It will require travel time of approximately eighty-four days, depending on what ships they use, for the ESUN delegation to reach the rendezvous. Knowing Raydon he’ll make certain he is here before then, but probably hang back and wait. He will be wary of revealing how much in the way of dealings he has with the Sweepers.// Deciding he had to make a decision or he would never get to bed, he reached to the keyboard and contacted the com officer, dispatching to the com terminal his recorded message. “Add an extra layer to the encrypting I used on this recording and get it off to the Bounty immediately. I will be standing down for a few hours sleep. Call me if the sun explodes but not before.” “Acknowledged.” The man grinned, his fingers dancing over his keys. “Encryption complete. Transmission to the Bounty underway.”
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