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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"
Mars Colony Base Dome Date: 1st March AC 198 Time: 19:11 MST [Mars Standard Time] Zechs He paused by the wall of the maintenance structure, blue eyes scanning the area for any indication of watchers or traps. While it all looked quiet and deserted he was not a trusting soul. Not since the fall of Sanc and the loss of his innocence had he trusted easily. No sounds warned of people near and he could see no indication that anyone had been here recently and that was likely not so deceptive as he found it to be. Truth to tell, there could not be so many amid the terra formers ranks who could be Sleeper Agents for the ESUN. Their numbers had to be low, else he would have stood a greater chance on uncovering their identities. In a situation such as this he would expect only one or two would be assigned to take down the occupants of the hydroponics domes. In Dome three he had taken out one agent and now he had taken out two on the scaffolding above. Common sense occasionally listened to, and agreed with, the law of averages, and told him that for the moment he should be clear of agents. While common sense and the logistics of the situation might suggest it, he was too aware of all the things that could go wrong to simply listen to that argument and take it on trust. If he lost his caution he would go down, taken out of the game by a Sleeper, and he could not afford that. At least not until he had sent off that distress call to Raydon and said a quiet prayer or two to speed it on its way. To business. He had to reach the transmitter. Glancing toward the heart of the dome he sighed softly. It was next to impossible to make out anything through the ranks of the fruit trees. It was quite an extensive orchard that spread out around him, and though he could not see him, he knew that somewhere in there Giles was working his way toward the maintenance shed. He was still feeling the effects of his encounter with the two agents and was grateful for the chance to rest, though he was lookout and could not relax. Still, the chance to take this time to recover his strength was welcome. A low, two tone whistle drew his attention and he nodded, waving a finger toward the building that linked hydroponics domes one and two together. He scanned the orchard again, then signaled the all clear, watching as the Raider operative broke from cover and approached the door in a smooth, quick dash. Zechs found himself holding his breath, tense, half expecting Giles to be dropped by a sniper lurking somewhere in the scaffolding above them, but the man reached the door without incident. He puffed a small breath of relief, turned to scan the trees again for any sign of trouble and glanced back at a low curse. Giles knelt at the door, a lock pick in hand, and was working on a padlock that Zechs was certain had not been on that door the last time he had occasion to come this way. //Padlocked door leading to dome one.// he mused. //Now that suggests that they wanted to isolate the dome. Have they not yet hit dome one? Possible, although it seems more likely that they would want to lock down the options open to anyone fleeing their hunt.// They would have wanted to contain the occupants as speedily as possible, stopping them from bolting to raise the alarm. Anyone who chanced upon them during a kill would surely bolt, intent on warning others of what was happening. It was only efficient that all escape routs be covered. Yet why then, had the door to the exterior not been likewise padlocked? Or did that explain the blood in the maintenance shed? Too many questions, he reflected arching an eyebrow as he watched the Raider work on the lock. Whatever he had been in his past life Giles made a fairly handy lock smith to have on his side. It was only a few seconds before the padlock clicked and a few more seconds before the linking chain threaded through the door latch was slipped off. Giles crouched, ear pressed to the door before signaling that all was quiet beyond the door. He considered the orchard for a long moment, eyeing his surroundings with total distrust before nodding and signaling to go ahead, wincing at the pain that flared in his head. He was still suffering the effects of his close proximity to that electrical discharge, and he tried to ignore the flair of pain. His body ached in every muscle and joint but he could not allow it to slow him down. He could only place his trust in the Raider to do some of the work that he felt he should be doing. He was honest with himself and admitted that he had not expected the other shock weapon to discharge and double the effects of the shock. Hell, he had not known that there was two charged and ready shock guns so close together and that the second would discharge. He was not omnipotent. What he was, was bloody sore and bone aching tired. That had been too close a call to allow it to be repeated. He had to have more care. He was certain Giles thought he was suicidal, but the simple truth was, that he functioned best under pressure. He had always had a tendency to do the unexpected. However, he admitted to himself, he could not continue to survive if he chanced such actions again. He needed to exercise more care and try not to place himself so close to disaster again. His heart still beat too fast and his vision occasionally blurred, and he had a headache that refused to give him any ease, but he judged himself to be functional. They really did not have the time for him not to be. He joined Giles by the door, throwing knife in hand, poised, eyes scanning the orchard, while Giles pulled a Bowie knife. He deliberately ignored the shock guns he carried, shuddering at the mere thought of the weapons, but refusing to discard them. They might yet come in handy, but for now he was not likely to play with one of the shock guns again in a hurry, and he was pleased to see that Giles, too, was avoiding the weapon that he carried. As far as he was concerned they did not have the lethal things. “I'll go in first, low and fast.” Giles glanced at him. “You alright?” //Bloody mother hen. Where did you find this one, Raydon? He's likely to mother me to death. // “Fine.” the breath of a whisper. “When your in, go low and right. I'll cover high and left.” “I can go in low and center…” at the icy glare to his protest Giles stilled, pursed his lips in consideration and shrugged. “Fine. I'll go low and right.” It seemed pretty anticlimactic and stupid, Giles reflected, to come fast and hard through the door, narrowly miss the working bench, barely avoiding taking a direct blow to the face, and tumble to the right into the cleared work area and glare about a totally empty room. He was only too aware of Zechs coming in a little more slowly, carefully controlled movement, slipping through the door in a far less dramatic but efficient fashion to cover the left of the room. //God. He's poetry in motion and the bastard knew about the bench!// Giles blushed, glaring at the offending piece of furniture, knowing now why Zechs had told him to go right as he came through the door. He would have tangled himself up in the work bench had he come in straight on to sweep both sides of the room. To be honest with himself he would have come close to knocking himself out and that was just plain embarrassing. Work benches, sacks of fertilizer, assorted tools of every design imaginable, hoses of varying sizes and thickness and seed storage. Exactly as he had expected it to be. Thankfully here there was no sign of a struggle, everything was orderly and in its proper place. For the moment ignoring the blushing Raider, Zechs ghosted up to the far door, positioning himself beside a small window near the door. Peering cautiously out of the window, he could just see two men sitting by a work bench, sipping coffee and having a quiet conversation. He sighed softly, more relief than anything, as he watched the two men. Relaxed. Calm, even laughing. He could not hear their conversation, but he could tell that they were amused and that there was no indication of alarm or unease in either. They looked to be simply enjoying a coffee break. Had the far door been locked because the Sleeper agents had not yet gotten around to slaughtering the inhabitants of the first hydroponics dome? The utter normality of the scene was highly suggestive of just that. He investigated the window for a latch and determined that it was of the non opening variety, so he slipped to the side of the door and with care managed to lift the simple latch silently. Cracking the door open quietly, just enough to allow the sound of their voices to reach him, he knelt by the door. Giving no warning of his presence to the men he was aware of Giles slipping toward him. “… don't know how much bloody longer they're going to take to call off this emergency.” his deep voice was touched with impatient disgust. “Intruders in the dome? Yeah, right. Can't see it myself. Has to be a drill.” the higher pitched voice was highly amused. Giles knelt next to Zechs, straining to hear every word. They needed to know how things stood before they made their next move. Just what did the workers here think was going on? Did they have any idea at all that their lives hung in the balance? “Drill? For what? Why would they bother?” “Raiders. Come on, you have heard the whispers doing the rounds of the dorms. The base is a prime target for a raid, being so close to completion. I overheard Jordan talking to Andrew just the other day, in the mess hall, about that raid at the Patrice Mining Consortiums asteroid base. You hear about that? Well, the base had two raider ships come in and threaten to blow the habitat if they were not given docking rights. Bold as brass they docked and proceeded to rob the place of spare parts and a good amount of the stored ore.” Giles scowled, hearing the tale, shaking his head in denial as he listened. Rumors always existed on the Raiders, and he was fed up with the fiction. He knew the fact too well, making it to easy to spot fiction when he heard it. “You believe that shit?” curiosity plain in his voice. “You don't? Come on, man. We may be in the boonies on Mars, but we get the news over the satellite links, same as everyone else. Raiders are causing big problems in the belt. I even heard tell of a few rich kids caught out in the space lanes beyond L4 being hit by them.” Giles scowled, shaking his head in vigorous denial and glancing at his companion he met the blue eyes watching him intensely. “Not Raiders.” Giles denied, voice barely audible even though Zechs was close enough to touch. “Raydon put a stop on all raids months ago. He wants to go legit and the council agreed with him. We buy what we want now.” “… ve half of what the news tells you. Knew a journalist before I came here. He told me they don't care anymore if what they print and release over the systems is truth or innuendo. So long as it sells. Said the big political parties on Earth pay them to say what they want them to. Been that way for a long time now. The Alliance used that tactic and Oz did too. Don't expect the new boys in power to be any different. If the Raiders were that bad the whole belt would be crawling with Preventers and Security forces.” a dismissive grunt finished off his comment. “Yeah, well. You are probably right, but man, you got to admit it makes for a good discussion on boring nights in the mess hall. Don't ruin it for me, okay? Christ, I'll be glad when this place is opened up for colonization. At least there will be some decent babes here then, who are free to be courted.” “You'll be staying on then? There are decent babes here now, Jimmy, and unattached. Just none of them will give you the time of day. Know you too well, they do.” a low laugh rumbled from him. A dismissive snort followed and a low chuckle. “And you, Smart Ass? Don't see you with any pretty girl on your arm.” “Your not likely to, either. I'm gay, remember? Shit, you blush dark, Jimmy.” a low chuckle. “Don't worry, your butt's safe from me. My hands got better things to do than itch to wander over your skinny ass.” “Oh yeah? Well, my ass ain't that skinny and I wouldn't want your hands on it anyway. Don't you look at my butt like that.” the comment was accompanied by a slap “Hands off, you perv.” “Too skinny for my tastes.” a deep rumble of laughter accompanied the comment. “No wonder you can't keep a girl. They ain't got nothin' to grab hold of to enjoy the ride.” “You just leave my ass out of this. Come on, I've had just about enough of this waiting around, doing nothing. How long we gonna wait? We got work to do and it ain't getting done while we're sitting here contemplating my butt.” “It's not such a bad butt, you know.” a low laugh accompanied by the sounds of the man standing. “I've seen worse. Seen way better too.” “Yeah? Gee, thanks.” sarcasm dripped from each word. “I could not have lived without that knowledge. You grab the shovels, I'll take the fertilizer. So, whose butt's better than mine, hmm? If you had your pick of the men on the base, who would you grab? Who would be prime on the hot list in the gay community here?” Sounds of movement, steps approaching the shed but stopping before the man came in sight of the door. He sounded to be just a few paces from the door, and Zechs prayed he would not notice that the door was ajar. “Don't forget to bring that slow release fertilizer. Who would I love to jump? God, Jimmy, that has to be the dumbest question. That blonde stud Noin's got under her thumb, of course. We'd all like a chance to approach him, but she keeps us off. Not stupid enough to go against her to try for him. She's got an evil eye, that one. To be honest, there are a few of us trying to get up the courage to approach him when he escapes her eye. That ain't often, you know. Well, none of us are game to try yet, anyway. Might see my way clear to trying my luck eventually, though. If I could get him alone, without the Wicked Witch of the East a hangin' in the neighborhood.” “Peacecraft? Man, you aim way above yourself. Like to live dangerously, don't you?” A low rumble and the corner of a wheel barrow became visible, then assorted clunks and bumps as items were stacked within. “He ain't here under the Peacecraft name. Not even officially listed as being here, I might add. Oh, yeah. He ain't on the lists, Jimmy. Seen them myself. That says to me that while he's here, he isn't a prince. For that matter, he doesn't even call himself Peacecraft. That means he's available to any one who thinks they have a chance.” “Dream on. You've got as much hope of scoring with him as I have with Noin. Gods. What a thought that would be. She'd be a wild ride, but man, it would be taking your life in your hands every time you touched her. Well, I think you…” their voices faded as they moved away from the building. Giles, grinning, sucked in a deep breath, intending to have as expressionless a face as possible when he faced the man at his side. Gaining some semblance of sobriety he turned to look at Zechs as the voices faded and the grin burst back onto his face, widening into a smile as he laughed softly. Merquise was leaning against the wall, his hands over his mouth, obviously trying very hard not to laugh aloud and yet he looked as if he would like to strangle the man. The Raider operative shook his head highly amused by the whole incident and motioned to the door. “Most men who have a wife and kids would be a little pissed by that conversation and its implications.” he offered. Ice blue eyes flicked toward the door and then he shrugged,
sobering swiftly. Indeed, he seemed more disturbed by Giles comment
than by the workers. “I'm not married.” came the quiet response.
//No, I am not married, nor do I intend to be. Noin won't take it quietly, and if we survive this I have no doubt that she will want to push the issue. Ah, I don't know what to do. She won't take it well, but I can't help it. I have to face the truth eventually, and this is as good a time as any to start. I… I don't love her that way. I just… God. I don't know what to do.// Giles looked curious, picking up on the choice of phrasing. He had clearly detected an unspoken 'nor do I intend to be' in that quiet husky voice. While it definitely was not the time nor the place he was intensely curious. “You bisexual, Zechs?” “Giles. Check to see if its clear and leave my sexuality out of this.” a low growl, all amusement gone, blue eyes flashing icy fire. “Fine, fine.” a wave of a hand. “Just curious. Raydon seems to think he has a chance with you is all. Guess he might be right, heh?” “Giles!” A low chuckle accompanied by a cheeky grin and the man slipped out the door, leaving Zechs to glare in his wake, thinking of a dozen ways to wipe the smirk off his face. With a low sigh the blonde slid to the floor and threw his head back against the wall, wincing at the pain that action ignited. His head ached worse than ever and his shoulder was beginning to stiffen again, pain now something above the constant ache it had been. He was going to have to face that problem and probably in the not so distant future. If he managed to get a call through to Raydon and the man did respond and was able to help, then there might be a price that would need to be paid. A price that Raydon might dictate before he helped. If Raydon demanded, could he pay that price? //He has too much honor to do that. He… I don't… God. I don't know… if I could… pay… // He knew the touch of Noin and he had had a taste of the touch of the Pirate King. His body so vividly recalled that light caress, the touch of lips to his neck, the warmth of his body pressed close. He had accepted Noin's touch. Accepted her kiss. Made love with her and he had children… Yet still he could not banish the memory of that other invitation that had been offered. A quick tap on the door and Giles slid back into the shed and froze at the kiss of cold steel to his throat. After a moment the knife was withdrawn and he started to breathe again, meeting blue ice with a chagrined look. “Sorry. Guess I wait for you to call enter next time.” a breathless whisper. His heart thundered in his breast but his fingers did not tremble on the hilt of the knife. He was inordinately thankful for that. “No, just whisper something so I can recognize it's you next time. I'm just a little strung out, Giles. I'd hate to knife you by mistake because my reflexes outstrip my brain.” “Sorry.” A shrug. He knew when he trod on thin ice, and this man was approaching breaking point. “I'll remember.” It would be best to get quickly back to business, he decided. “Where do we need to go? No one in sight at the moment. I think they were headed for the center of the dome, for that new planting of potatoes. I remember someone saying they think they have that new hybrid ready to try now.” He slipped the knifed back into its sheath. “Either the potato bed or the far side, where the tomatoes are supposed to be going in this week. We go to the right, when we leave the shed. Bring a shovel.” Zechs took a shovel from the wall and slipped out the door, not waiting to see what the man would do, moving quickly around the building to hug the wall of the dome. When he had made the cache he had had to ensure it would not be discovered by the gardeners when they were relaying or redesigning the beds, or tending to established plantings. With that in mind he had chosen the location of his cache with great care. Leaning against the wall of the shed, where the dome surface and the buildings side met were a group of planting trays on trolleys. Hearing the Raider agent come out of the shed he motioned to him and began to wheel the trolleys away from the dome wall, arranging them to give some cover to their activities. Seeing what was needed of him Giles moved to assist. He had been watching the blonde and picked up on the small signs that Zechs just could not hide, the tell tale signs of physical exhaustion and pain. He did have some medical training and he was well aware that Merquise needed to rest that shoulder as much as possible. He took it on himself to move the bulk of the trolleys, trying to move as many as possible to keep the blonde from over exerting. “What now?” “We dig up the cache.” a low mutter as he measured the distance from the shed to the wall, picking the position carefully, hoping to cut down as much work as possible by getting as close to the location as he could. “I'll dig. You keep watch.” Giles offered, scanning the dome, hoping the man would not see through the offer. //Someone really should keep watch.// he reflected. “Just show me where to start.” A moments consideration saw Zechs motion to a section of the wall and then mark an area of compressed soil. He had needed to bury the cache a fair distance under the surface and considering that the area was not now used for its original purpose, he suspected the ground had become quite compacted. He had needed to bury the cache quite deep and he did not doubt that Giles would not thank him for that after a few minutes of digging. He smiled to himself when he heard Giles curse softly at the first attempt to drive the shovel into the ground. It had been over a year since he had added anything to this cache and during that time the soil had become just about as hard as rock. He was actually thankful that Giles had offered to do the heavy digging and he slipped away from the area, merging into the shadows of the building and settling down to keep watch. The amount of soil they had brought into the dome and treated for use, allowed the cache to remain undiscovered, or so he hoped. They had treated the Martian soil to remove toxic chemicals that would retard or outright kill anything that had grown quite happily on Earth. The area where Giles now dug was the original area where they had dumped the treated soil. Originally the hydroponics dome had grown their food only in nutrient baths, while they had experimented with the soil and the means by which to treat it. The year he and Noin had joined the Terra Formers they had been ready to start the plantings in the safe and now enriched Martian loam. The first crop production had exceeded all previous estimates and slowly the true hydroponics crops had been reduced in favor of soil plantings. It was odd that most of the gardeners here had wanted to get their hands quite literally, dirty, producing healthy plants from the Martian ground. He scanned the approaches to the maintenance building and listened carefully, gradually making out the distant sounds of someone laughing. A deep laugh, full of honest amusement. No, trouble as yet had not come to this dome. What should he do about that? He felt that he should warn them, but he had limited time and opportunity. He was only too aware of the constraints of time. Would they believe him? That was another good question, he mused. He was far from ignorant of what the terra formers thought of him. He was generally thought to be something of a nut case by the bulk of the team. What other reason could possibly explain his actions in attempting to destroy Earth? There had also been the instances when he had phased out of reality in very public places, when visions of possibilities over took him in the last months. Nothing so violent as the latest of those visions, of course, but enough to add to the rumors that he was mentally disturbed. It might not be so easy for him to convince these people to be wary of their own friends, on the off chance that those friends might not be as friendly as they assumed. He glanced at Giles to find him grumbling under his breath as he made slow but steady progress in digging his hole. The hole was perhaps a little larger than it needed to be in diameter, but he was aware that Giles wanted to dig only one hole, and hoped that this size was sufficient to bring him to the cache if his directions were a little off center. It would take time to reach the cache and he only hoped it had remained undisturbed all this time. He did not want to think of the consequences if the cache had been found and there was no longer a transmitter. What to do about these terra formers? He would need to convince these people to find safe havens for as long as it took to take out the Sleepers and the agents that he knew. Just where was safe, anyway? When any of your friends could turn out to be the enemy, where would you consider safe? He could only pray to whatever god might be watching that his children were with guardians who were not agents of the ESUN. In trusting those two women, had he given the ESUN just what they had come for? A wave of vertigo swept over him, threatening to send him to his knees. Clawing, creeping cold threatened to send him sobbing into a heap of useless flesh. No! Not now. He could not allow vision to overcome him. Move, walk, crawl if he had to, but he could not allow himself to succumb to the visions. He could only hope that it was not vision revealing that he had given his children over to ESUN agents. He would just have to get them back if it was later revealed to be so. He would have the time. He had to give the terra formers a chance against the Wellington, and the Sleeper agents could not get off of Mars without the Wellington. That was his saving grace. His chance to ensure that his children remained free. He could not survive another bout of vision and expect to remain functional. Not now. Not here. There was no time. He could only hope that it was not true vision that he blocked, and only a possibility that he could avoid becoming reality without causing more disasters to befall the team. He did not need Giles to see him go down into a screaming heap. “Got something.” a hissed warning. He pulled himself together, thankful for the interruption. Using it to force vision away, moving slowly at first, taking great care with each move until he felt the world settle around him. He joined Giles, assisting him in clearing the soil away from the metal box that had been uncovered. It was not an overly large box and it showed little evidence of its time under the ground, other than a heavy layer of dirt which was quickly brushed aside. When they had cleared it sufficiently they hunkered down on either side, lifting it clear of the hole and sliding it to one side. “So, just what have you got in there?” “Just a couple of things I thought might come in useful when I had limited access to the facilities of this base.” he glanced up from the box, scanning the area around them anxiously. Giles nodded, crouching closer as Zechs bent to work the lock, which he saw was a combination affair. He rested a hand lightly on the man's back, feeling the tension there, in those broad, strong muscles, and detecting too the tremble that the man could not control. When the lid lifted he glanced down then threw himself backwards, scuttling on his butt to put distance between himself and the box. “Shit!” “Quiet.” a low rumble, amused. “Its nothing to panic about. Just plaited leather strips. What's your problem with that?” “Well how was I to know that?” his face flaming with embarrassment he peered over the lid of the case and down into the box. “It looked for all the world like a snake.” Ice blue eyes lifted from the contents of the box to stare at him in total disbelief. “Oh, come on, Giles. It's been sealed for nearly two years. I think it would be a very dead snake by now, don't you?” Zechs lifted the coiled leather and secured it to his belt by a loosely tied thong. Should he need to gain the item quickly all he needed to do was give it a quick sharp tug and it would be sufficient to free its considerable length for his use. With the whip safely at his side he took a medium sized leather bag and tossed it to Giles, placing a second bag in a pocket of the tool belt he wore. Giles hefted the bag, thinking it a little light to contain something lethal, and while Zechs rummaged around in the box he pulled the ties on the bag and gingerly tipped a few of the contents into the palm of his hand. “Shit.” a whisper. “What the hell are these?” “Caltrops.” came the quiet voice. “Simple, effective way to disrupt a pursuit if your on foot. Toss them over your shoulder and keep on going.” Giles peered into the bag, noting there had to be at least two dozen of the multi barbed metal items, wincing as one of the barbs caught the flesh of his hand and he was quick to replace the things in the bag. Each barb was around half an inch long with a hook at the end, sharpened and pointed to boot. If it dug into your skin it would take some fancy knife work to remove. As Zechs had said, simple but effective. “Where did you find these?” “Made them myself. “ Zechs responded, securing a belt around his flat middle, loosening the utility belt to ride lower on his hips to more comfortably accommodate the wide belt. It was a wide leather strip with a series of six metal stars set into the leather. Each star had six points and the entire ensemble seemed to fit the man in some odd way that Giles could not explain to himself. “Nice belt.” Giles muttered, eying the decoration quizzically. He was gradually learning that Marquise never did anything without a reason and he had never seen the man wear anything much in the way of personal decoration. “You don't know the half of it.” a low chuckle responded. “Do be careful of the caltrops. They're crafted from Gundanium and are finely honed, so they will dig deep and with the hooks at the end of the prongs they won't be coming out in a hurry.” “Where did you get the idea for this shit?” he had never heard of the devices before, but he was having no trouble imagining what one or two of these things could do to an unwary foot. “Caltrops were used a thousand years ago to take down cavalry horses and infantry. A tried and true method I just adapted to my circumstances and borrowed. You never know what you might need, Giles. It pays to learn from the lessons of the past. When I made this equipment I had little free access around the base and I only had scrap metal to work with.” “And that?” Giles pointed to the coiled leather at Zechs' hip. “I made that too. It took me a quite a few tries to get it right, but I learned in the end.” softly, as he finished adjusting the belts for comfort and practicality. “But do you know how to use it? I know enough about them to know its not easy.” Zechs chuckled, bending down to search in the box again. “Epyon was armed with two weapons, Giles. One was a beam saber. The other was a heat rod. The heat rod was a whip fashioned… “ a sigh as he broke off, shaking his head. “Oh, forget it. Yes, I know how to use it. This is what we came for.” He tilted a small com device into his hand from a bag and it was followed by a circle of gold metal, around two inches wide and of sufficient diameter to circle his muscular upper arm. Giles sucked in a breath as he saw the armband and glanced at the man holding it. “Raydon gave that to you? It is what I think it is, isn't it?” “Yes.” a whisper, aware that Giles now knew exactly what Raydon would expect from him. “It is his personal locator beacon. It is a transmitter too. When we send off a message the locator beacon will automatically activate. With a few minutes and the help of that hand com unit, I should be able to rig up a basic transmission that will be enough to tell him what is going on here. The message will need to be brief, but it should do the job well enough.” He watched the blonde begin to work with the com device and decided it was as good a time to ask as any. While he knew that there were ESUN agents in the base, indiscriminately killing the terra formers, he needed to know the entire picture if he was going to be of any real assistance. Raydon would not be pleased with him if he failed his assignment due to inadequate intelligence. “Just what is going on here, man? I know the ESUN is after you, but as for the rest, I just don't get it. Why are they going around killing us off?” Crystal blue eyes lifted to study him for a long moment, before lowering back to the exposed wiring of the com device. “Those who are in charge of this entire operation do not want witnesses. You know it is not Raiders who are loose in the base. The agents here feel the situation is out of control, because I did not lie down and allow them to take my children back to Earth with them. That's what it all is about, Giles. Covering up an operation that has gotten out of hand.” “They are going to kill all of us? To cover up what has been going on here? Man, there are more than two thousand of us.” “Considerably more. You forget the new arrivals at the Alpha Dome. They have set charges around the domes, Giles. Here at the Base Dome and down in the Alpha Dome. The charges were to kill everyone above ground in the decompression at both domes and make it look as though Raiders had blown their way in.” While he was speaking he was working on the small radio, breaking into the circuitry and then looking to the armband, finding the connection points he would need to link the two devices. From time to time he would rummage in his utility belt, looking carefully at the fine tools he had collected over the months, some of which he was not supposed to have considering the line of work he was employed here to perform. “How many people are we talking about here? How many people have infiltrated the base?” Patiently Zechs explained the circumstances, eyes scanning the dome occasionally to ensure they were undisturbed. By the time he had finished linking the two devices he had Haydon Giles staring at him is disbelief, mouth working silently for a few minutes before he could make his voice work. “A Cruiser? They have called in a cruiser to attack the dome and kill everyone? Jesus. They call the Raiders assholes. We never had a patch on this. No. No, they can't. I mean… I… Jesus, man, what's wrong with them?” “They are following their orders, Giles. The Raiders just happen to be a most convenient scapegoat. If you say that Raydon has curtailed certain activities for some months now, then it is even possible that some of the raids that the media has reported recently, might be an ESUN ploy to assist in the cover up. At best, they get the twins and enough reaction within the Earth Sphere to help secure extra funding to clean up the asteroid belt. All the cost is measured in is a few more than two thousand dead and a severely damaged colony. They can always rebuild.” “How… how do you know this?” Zechs froze, staring at the circuitry in his hands. How did he know this? Could he tell the man? Could he tell him the truth, that he had seen it in a vision and that he knew it was going to happen? Or almost certain that it would. Could he tell him that he was desperately trying to avoid that fate for the people whose only crime was to be on Mars at this time? What did he dare tell Giles? If he had not come to Mars and allowed Noin to get into his bed, none of this would have happened. It was his fault. Every death could be laid at his feet. “I had a little chat with one of the agents earlier.” he whispered. He could not afford to have Giles doubt him. Not now. He needed the man. “The communications system is down and will require specialist knowledge to get back on air. This is the only communication device that I can reach on short notice, and to be honest, Raydon is the only one I thought might interfere on our behalf. If he does not help, then we all are dead.” “A Mayday call will bring in help.” Giles sounded uncertain to his own hearing and winced at that. “Not in time. Not enough time. From what Raydon said it would not be more than two to four days before the transmitter signal would be answered, no matter where in the Earth Sphere I was should I activate it. That probably places the Raiders as the closest and the most likely to survive answering the call.” at Giles sharp look he shrugged and returned to his work. “There is the chance that the Wellington will take out any ship that approaches Mars if it is not a match for her. Ore Carriers would not stand a chance. Only Raider ships or Preventer Ships; and not just single ships, but three or more are needed, just to ensure that the Wellington is out gunned. If she is out gunned and there are witnesses, she will leave, retreating from Mars and another cover will be initiated to cover exposed butts. The blame for what happens here will not be permitted to fall on the politicians involved.” “But… The people here will still know.” Zechs sighed, looking up to meet the intense eyes and quietly quashed that hope. “Families can be threatened. It would take only one or two hits to get the point across. I'm not insane, you know Giles. Not really. It is, however, a convenient excuse to have me securely contained in a remote and isolated community. People must not believe that I am sane. If that were so, then some questions would be asked in very elaborately decorated halls. Questions about who was doing what in the One Year War and during the Barton Incursion. Questions about the activities of those who backed certain actions and who are uncertain that their covers will hold.” Giles stared at him in silence while he returned to his work and the Raider turned slowly to keep watch. “Shit.” a whisper, and it was all he could think to say.
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