Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Preventers: The Griffin Mission ❯ Chapter 5

Amy fidgeted in her seat, readjusting Duo's lockpicks and other miscellaneous appliances for the zillionth time. A glint of silver caught her eye. Another of the little buggers had fallen out. Breathing a soft sigh that she hoped would ease her frustration, she examined the delicate tool in her lap. She blinked. What the hell did she need a can opener for?! She seriously doubted there would be any fridges to raid in the caves of Altaos Beta. Shaking her head, she carefully slipped the tool into her long brown braid.

The rest of the gang had caught up with Amy and Wufei just as they were heading out the door. To their dismay, they were showered with going away "presents" and warm wishes. Thrilling. Surprisingly, some of these gifts would be useful (not counting can openers). Quatre produced bags upon bags upon vats of dehydrated trail provisions. (He loudly exalted his prized dehydrator, although he hardly ever used it; damned shopping channel.) Duo had handed her a small leather pouch and briefly explained how to hide the delicate instruments in a braid. As soon as she slipped into Wufei's Jeep, she braided her long locks and began creating an easy-to-remember system.

Once they reached the city, Wufei broke the silence that had once again befallen them. "When we reach headquarters, you're going to carry all your own stuff." He cast a disparaging glance at the backseat where her trail pack and two other bags spilled over the cracked vinyl seat. "Women," he grumbled softly. She caught snatches of the rest of his rant, but she wasn't going to listen too hard.

"Well I might need my pencils and paper." She ignored his dubious snort. "I might!"

Wufei wisely kept his peace, but afforded her a second glance. He reached out and casually poked a lockpick into her plaited locks. Then, not to be caught acting too out-of-character, he turned back to watch the city streets before them. In a few minutes, they pulled up in front of the Preventers' public headquarters. In a few more minutes, they found themselves standing before Sally Po's office door.

"So you're finally here." Lady Une appeared, rounding the corner at the end of the hall. She looked a little pissed but professional in her red business suit and skirt. But hey, what else was new? "You must have had more important things to do. If you think the Preventers can survive on donations, then why didn't you take another hour or two?"

Wufei fairly bristled at the sarcasm. "Kisama, we came as quickly as we could-without leaving piles of bodies in our wake. It wasn't our fault that we got held up back at Quatre's house-"

Amy lost interest in the verbal sparring. She grimaced and curtly knocked on the door before her. Within seconds, Sally opened the door and smiled in what looked like relief. "Oh, good; you're here! Une has been-" Sally caught a glimpse of the former OZ colonel and cut herself short. "-openly enthusiastic about Asano's offer. Heh. Well, come in, you two. We'll have a short chat before you leave for Altaos Beta." Amy tried not to think of the woman's glance at Wufei as a come-hither solicitation.

Still sulking, Wufei brushed past Une to enter Sally's office. He perched on the edge of a straight-backed chair, crossing his arms sullenly. He looked awfully cute when he sulked like that. . . .

"That's good, considering he hardly ever does anything else," Sally whispered as she closed the door behind Amy. The young Elemental eeped and whirled to face Sally, who grinned and winked conspiratorially. Amy gulped and made a mental note not to voice her thoughts. Good idea, especially a round Wufei. . . .

"Well, let's get on with it, Sally Po," Wufei insisted in his usual cheerful tone. Amy dragged a chair a few feet away from his before she sat down.

Sally seemed to share Amy's enthusiasm at being shut up in the same room as an irate Wufei. She sighed, but flashed a good-natured smile as she slipped behind her desk. "Um, I hear you had a bit of a problem yesterday. Jiro mentioned something about a simulator room accident. . . ?" She paused, waiting for one or the other to fill in the blanks. Amy ground her teeth, but remained silent under Wufei's watchful gaze. Sally pursed her lips and tapped her fingers against one another. "Okay. We can try telepathy if you'd like. Or we could just move on. The most important thing is that no one was severely hurt. Are you? We can't endanger the mission by sending wounded agents."

Amy began to shake her head, to assure Sally that they were both fine. She stopped in mid-shake as a thought hit her. Hadn't Wufei been blasted too? But she didn't remember seeing any wound on his arm at the lake. . . . Baffled, she turned, craning her neck forward to search his arm for a cut, a hint of newly healed skin. His arm, both arms, were smooth and flawless.

"No, we're fine," Wufei answered in Amy's stead. "But I want you to demote Heyaki. He needs something to wake him up to the real world."

"Yeah, and take that clipboard away. Why waste good kindling on a sleazeball like him?" Amy chimed in.

Sally gave her a weird look. "Is there something I should know about? He's been demoted twice already for sexual harassment. He's sort of on probation right now."

"Hell yeah!" Amy ignored Wufei's impatient sigh. "He made a mistake that got me shot in the stomach. We were sent to the Griffin escape simulation before we even had that conference; so I didn't think I could use my Elemental abilities."

The older woman frowned thoughtfully. "But you're okay, right? I specified that safety settings be fixed on fifty percent."

"Safety settings were completely disabled. I got a full laser blast in the gut and Wufei's arm got sliced open."

"Damn him!" The expression on Sally's face gave Amy great satisfaction. Jiro was as good as dead. She barely managed to stifle an evil cackle.

"This is taking too long." Wufei gently reminded them that he was still sulking. "If you send us on our way now, we can memorize the maps on the transport shuttle."

Sally looked hesitant. "Okay. . . . Just let me go over the basics again. We drop you off on the marked plateau today, then you have four days to explore on your own. The shuttle won't return for exactly 96 hours unless you call in and request pickup." She began to dig through the overwhelming mess on her desk. In a few moments, she produced a tiny black box that reminded Amy of a Star Trek communicator. "Just turn this on. There's a direct link to the transport shuttle. As soon as they receive the signal, they'll send an envoy shuttle to the plateau.

"Depending on weather conditions and other factors, the envoy shuttle will hover for up to five hours before it leaves without you and a search team will be sent to locate you." Sally flashed a wry smile. "Please don't make us do that. We're already risking discovery by sending you two to check out the planet. If Griffin catches wind of this, they may be able to blow us out of the water, if you know what I mean."

Sally paused, as though to collect her thoughts. "Well, ready to head to Headquarters? I can squeeze the rest of the information into the amount of time it takes to get there."

Wufei didn't need to be asked twice. He jumped up and nearly dragged Amy out to his Jeep. Sally slipped into the backseat ("I'll hitch a ride back with someone else.") and they were off, peeling rubber on the smooth blacktop. Sally, true to her word, continued to go over miscellaneous stuff. Then, of course, there was the "Do's and Don'ts" list. The "Don'ts" list was lengthier than Amy cared to think about. But, being trapped in the same vehicle as the Preventers president, she didn't really have much of a choice. Judging by his lack of enthusiasm, Wufei agreed.

"Look, Chang." Sally took on a firm, resolute tone that reminded Amy of her mother. "I know you don't like protocol and procedures, but you need to put up with me here. If we can't reach an understanding, this mission is doomed to failure. And the same thing goes for you two. You better have found your `groove' yesterday because if Griffin is stationed on Altaos Beta, there is little to no room for mistakes or misunderstandings. You'd darn well better know enough to work together by-"

"Whoa, whoa." Amy could see the bloody potential well up right before her eyes. "C'mon, guys, I think we need a group hug here or something. Wu and I are great friends, aren't we buddy?"

"Wufei."

She twisted against the seat belt to grin at Sally Po. "See? We'll do great! We're ready to kick some Griffin ass, here!"

"No! You're going to stay away from physical conflict on this mission. First and foremost priority is to locate traces of Griffin involvement. If you do find a plant, I'm leaving your next move up to you. You can infiltrate or request shuttle pickup. I guess this depends on timing, improvisational abilities, and you own physical and mental condition. I'll have to . . . trust your . . . common sense. . . ," she barely choked out.

Amy began to worry that Sally was suffocating. But perhaps it was just her own words getting stuck in her throat. Strange; none of the words seemed to be particularly hard or complicated. Maybe the poor woman needed a vacation.

"Is there anything else we need to know? Of course you'll tell us anyway, whether there is or not. Perhaps you'd like to repeat yourself once again. . . . What's our mission?" Wufei droned in a normal tone-which meant he sounded like someone was tugging on his ponytail.

Sally arched a thin eyebrow. "Humor? From Wufei? My, my. . . ." Her eyes darted over to look at Amy. Why did she look so smug?

Aptly worried, Amy agreed with her partner. "Hey look: we're here! Well, we've had our briefing-" Hmmm . . . Wufei: boxers or briefs? "-and we can memorize the maps on the transport shuttle-" Maybe boxers with those white Mao pants. "-and we can start exploring the planet as soon as possible." Tighty whiteys with these tight jeans, definitely. Amy leaned back in her seat, content with a job well done.

Sally chuckled. "Okay, you two. Ease off the bit. I'm glad you're so gung-ho about this mission. I just hope you remember how excited you were when you return exhausted, at the point of collapse, dying. . . ." Wufei snorted. "No, really, I have the utmost confidence in this team."

Amy experienced a little warm and fuzzy feeling in her tummy as she and Wufei jumped out of the Jeep and unloaded their fashionably grey gear. Then she realized that it was just the resident butterflies reminding her of the mission. Gotta love those butterflies, the damned things.

"All right. Wufei, you know where the launch pad is. Take Amy there and prepare for launch. I'm going to check into Heyaki." Sally paused at the decadent door. "Good luck, you guys."

Wufei nodded slightly. Amy was thrilled to pieces that he seemed to have cooled down since his run-in with Une. They both bid Sally thanks and waved goodbye as Wufei led the way around the back of the building. Momentarily, she forgot to be worried when she saw the sheathed sword tied to his pack. Then they rounded the corner. Amy felt the butterflies beat themselves into a frenzy as the transport shuttle became visible.

It was a metal behemoth. Sure, it was sleek and streamlined, but there was a certain intimidating air about the shuttle. Bright, polished silver glinted in the afternoon sun and an indistinct haze shimmered around its grounded wheels. Amy felt a lump materialize in her throat as she tried to envision it taking them into space. "That . . . that's gonna take us up-" She nodded in the general direction of the sky.

"Yes." His step didn't falter as he affirmed her thoughts. While she felt frozen to one spot, he continued to stride toward the transport shuttle. After a second, he paused and slowly turned. "Aren't you coming? I thought you wanted to begin this mission as soon as possible."

She swallowed around the lump, trying to dispel it. "Yeah. Yeah, but you didn't tell me what we were riding in." Quickly, she sought for an excuse to turn back. "Hey! I forgot my drawing stuff! Can I just-"

"What did you think? We'd resurrect the Gundams?" He smirked. "No onna. We're going. Now."

Amy sighed and scampered after him as he set a fast pace once again. Soon, they had stepped through the hatch and were inside the transport shuttle. The shuttle resembled the interior of a private airplane. There were four rows of plush blue seats; two seats by each window, separated by a carpeted aisle. She forced herself to take all of this in, reminding herself that this was exactly like an airplane . . . only different.

A well-groomed man sauntered up the aisle, smiling at them. A pressed navy Preventers uniform named him the captain of this shuttle. "Hi, there. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Pushing her fears aside, Amy forced herself to smile and prepared to shake the hand that he was extending. But the captain whisked right by her, stopping in front of Wufei. The Chinaman reluctantly took the captain's hand, which completely thrilled the older man. "Chang Wufei. . . . I've heard so much about you. My daughter, she's completely taken with you. She'll be so jealous that I got to meet you. You should see her room." He laughed. "The walls are so full of posters of you and your Gundams. . . ."

Wufei glanced past the captain's shoulder, his obsidian eyes silently pleaded with Amy for some help. Grinning crookedly, she inserted herself between the two men. "Hi, Captain. I'm Amy, Wufei's partner. You have a . . . nice shuttle here."

Alert grey eyes turned to her as if noticing her for the first time. The captain released his death grip on Wufei's hand and patted her shoulder. "Nice to meet you, too, young lady. I'm Captain Nagaru and I'll be piloting this hunk of metal." He eyed the shuttle affectionately. "According to Lady Une, we're to leave as soon as you get strapped in. I assume you already know the procedure, so I'll head up front and page you when we leave the atmosphere. Have a nice ride." He gave a small wave and returned to the cockpit.

The Fire Elemental watched Wufei nurse his crumpled hand, her eyes sparkling. "Do you get that a lot? It's a wonder you're still alive."

He gave a weak laugh and gestured at a seat near the front of the shuttle. "Strap yourself in before Sally investigates the hold-up."

Amy dutifully plopped down in the indicated seat and began to work at the straps. It took her all of 16.3 seconds to get tangled up. The airlock activated, sealing the hatch shut. She extracted herself from the chaotic mess as the shuttle roared to life. "Wufei!" Grabbing her pack, she threw herself out of her seat and ran up the aisle. She threw herself into the seat beside him and kicked the pack beneath the seat until it was securely lodged there.

He cast a dismayed look in her direction. "What's wrong? Get strapped in or you're going to be thrown across the shuttle!"

Her breath caught in her throat as she fumbled with the straps once again. Secondary engines began to hum, then whirred to an ear-splitting crescendo. "I-I can't!" She yelled above the deafening noise. "I've never flown in a space ship before."

"What?" Wufei snatched the straps from her and quickly adjusted them around her torso. Looking over his shoulder, Amy helplessly watched the grass-studded asphalt field creep by the window. He secured the bindings until she could barely move, then tightened his own trappings. By the time she had a clear view out the window again, the ground was falling away, replaced by a thin blue sky. The only clues she had to their speed was the noisy clattering and shuddering of the ship itself and-oh, yeah-the fact that she was being pressed against her seat by something that felt like a zillion pounds.

A gentle hand covered her own, easing the white-knuckled grip that threatened to snap the armrest. Her head slowly turned to see Wufei smiling-actually smiling!-helpfully at her. She blinked and let the gravity hold her head sideways against the seat. Under her gaze, his eyes shifted to look past her, out the opposite window. Gradually, the noise, shuddering, and gravitational force all eased. When Amy shifted her gaze again, they were in space.

"Hey, back there!" a cheerful voice called over the intercom. "This is your captain speaking. We have presently left Earth's atmosphere and all passengers are encouraged to disengage their safety restraints. Heh. It's smooth sailing from here, guys."

Wufei quickly slipped out of his harness. As soon as the straps were off, he started floating. He grabbed the armrest for anchorage and effortlessly helped Amy with hers. She sighed in frustration, but let him take over.

"What happened back there?" he asked as the straps practically floated off her. "Are you phobic or something?"

Ouch. He'd certainly see that as a weakness. "No. This is, ah, my first space flight."

He quirked an eyebrow and opened his mouth. She braced herself for some scathing comment. But he just gave her the once-over and nodded. "They get easier with every trip." He pulled himself down onto the seat and quickly rummaged through his grey pack. In a few seconds, he produced the two Altaos Beta maps. "Now we'll really have some fun."

Amy blinked. He was making attempts at humor. She didn't have much time to contemplate this because Wufei waved a rolled-up map in her face. She snatched it away and flashed a wry grin. "Gee, thanks."

"Don't mention it." He shrugged and pushed off of the seat. Amy watched as he was boosted up toward the ceiling. At the top, he lightly brushed his hand against the gleaming metal, slowing his ascent. He shifted his weight forward, diving into a slow-motion somersault. Unconcerned, he slowly unrolled his map and began studying it.

Not to be showed up by the space veteran, Amy propelled herself up to join him. Well, she had planned to join him. Instead, she found herself flying past him. Seeing the ceiling come looming up in front of her, she threw her hand up to deflect the upcoming painfulness. Unfortunately, she forgot about Newton's third law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Oops. Much like a gumball machine super-bouncy ball, she went soaring back toward Wufei. Thoroughly upset, (Screw this!) she embraced the Elemental gust of Air and wove a nice little net. She stopped a centimeter or two short of ramming into her partner, then twisted the weave until she was suspended upside-down in midair.

Amy soon discovered that the map was identically interesting to crossed eyes as it was to a scrutinizing gaze. Hn; go figure. She sneaked a sideways glance at Wufei, who was diligently studying his own map as he somersaulted in place. Now that was talent. So was this near-perfect silence; only the distant rumbling of the shuttle engines rippled in the air between them.

"Um, Wufei? About the sword thing?" Damn! Where'd that come from?! She had no clue, but she had his attention now. She cleared her throat. Think fast. "I'm sorry for what happened."

He just looked at her. If she had been sitting, she would have fidgeted. Instead, she played with the map's crisp corners. "Um, I was wondering what you said when I was leaving."

Wufei toned down the intensity of his stare just a notch. He turned back to contemplate his map. "That was a Chinese poem. I . . . didn't think you could hear me."

"Oh." She reflected on the map a bit. "Wufei?"

"Hn."

"When you said `every time,' were you talking about me?" She hesitated, then plunged onward. "Because I don't screw up everything I do. I know I've been making stupid mistakes since I met you, but I'm no failure. Sally did have a reason for choosing me."

To her dismay, Wufei simply turned his head to watch her once again as he slowly revolved in the air. He managed to appear both amused and irritated at the same time. Under his scrutinizing gaze, she squirmed and buried her nose in her own map. In a few moments, when she still felt his eyes on her, she looked up to confront his open stare with her own level gaze. He had stopped spinning and was pulling his ankles onto his knees in traditional lotus position. Needless to say, that looked a little strange considering he was suspended in midair.

"I wasn't talking about you," he stated simply. He paused, withdrawing into some sort of shell for so long that Amy feared another uncomfortably silent journey. But before she could turn away, he spoke again. "I know you felt it that night-that oneness. So I'll explain." He clasped his ankles and leaned back to the extent of his arms. "When I work with the sword, I can easily find my chi, my life essence. You might call it a soul; I suppose they are somewhat similar. When I grasp my chi and draw into myself, the world seems perfect, every sensation pure."

Wufei glanced over at her to see her nodding, rich chocolate eyes wide with understanding. This amazed him-and frightened him. Although he hadn't talked about it, he well remembered the night's events. He had felt the way her body had responded to his cues to keep up with the sword-dance-something which should have been impossible for one who had never even seen the techniques. He let his eyes lose focus as he thought of the way her warm body had melded with his until it seemed that she was a part of him. That frightened him. He couldn't allow himself to feel this way. Determined, he forced the hot, flushed feeling from his skin and looked her in the eye.

Amy almost gasped as she caught a fleeting glimpse of some ardent emotion in the obsidian depths of his eyes. Before she could react, he continued his explanation. "Every time I finish my forms, the chi slips away again and the noxious things of this world come crashing back, intensified a thousand fold. That's what I meant."

Her lips parted wordlessly, but Wufei turned his face away, gazing out the window. She pressed her lips together in irresolute misery. There was no way to fall back on her humor now; if she wanted to go on, she would have to address the issue. "I felt it too." She barely heard her own voice, but Wufei gave a little start. "I felt the . . . purity and higher senses." I felt you. . . .

"I know." The softness in his own voice startled him. His actions startled him even more. Almost before he knew it, he reached out and stroked gentle fingertips down her cheek. Again, he reminded himself of Nataku, of his vow to go on fighting for her. But there were no more battles. After the defeat of Mariemaya, he'd thought he had come to terms with his past. But Nataku would not be silent. Is it really her speaking to me . . . or am I too weak to let go?

Amy felt the butterflies return with a frenzied vengeance as his fingers trailed down her cheek. The blood rushed to her face, but maybe that was just because she was upside-down. Yeah, that must be it. She slowly closed her eyes, trying to settle those darned butterflies down. When they blinked open again, his face was centimeters away, his eyes cryptic and pensive. Just as she began to wonder: How do you kiss someone who's upside-down?, he rested his cheek against hers. She slowly angled her face toward him until her lips brushed smooth skin and it dawned on her that it wasn't the butterflies making a flashy comeback. Her chest tightened and her breath caught in her throat as she realized them for the impassioned emotions they were.

A loud crackling noise filled their ears. Startled, they both over-reacted and went spinning to opposite sides of the shuttle. Amy clutched at a nearby armrest and frantically whipped her head around to look for the source of the interruption. Soon, the static receded and Captain Nagaru's voice chuckled across the intercom. "Sorry about that, you two. There's a bug in the speaker system we haven't had the time to work out yet. Anyway, we're almost to the planet. Grab your packs and head for the envoy shuttle bay. The door's to the rear. Once you seal the hatch, get woolly and strap up to wait for further instructions," the intercom buzzed cheerfully.

Wufei carefully latched onto the chairs and pulled himself back to his seat. By the time Amy joined him, he had already dislodged his pack and was floating over to the shuttle bay door. He tried to keep an arm's length away from her. What had he been thinking?! This was just another weak woman, a foolish onna. But he had to admit, albeit grudgingly, that she seemed to be a fast learner. Ignoring her complacent smile, he tapped the access code into the keypad by the door. As soon as it began to slide open, he zipped through, adjusting his pack to allow his sheathed broadsword unmolested passage. In a few seconds, he was propelling himself across the small shuttle bay.

She followed him, attentively adjusting her velocity with the same carefully thought-out motions he effected. Soon, they had slipped into the envoy shuttle. While Wufei manually hauled the hatch shut and activated the air-lock, Amy tried to pull the fleece-lined coat and pants on over her clothes. This proved to be fairly frustrating given the claustrophobic conditions. Envoy shuttles were not built for comfort, nor were they meant to be used as a changing room-though Amy still found it hard to believe that anything could be smaller than a changing room. Once she had struggled into her cold-n-snow ensemble-acquiring beautifully bruised elbows in the process-she situated herself in the navigator's seat and busied herself with the psychotic restraint straps.

He was much less noisy about getting into his grey fuzzies. In a few moments, he slipped into the pilot's seat and squished his newly-acquired bulk between the armrests. His fluid movements suggested that his elbows were much less colorful than Amy's. Once he managed to strap himself in, he directed a resigned glance her way. Dull cynicism gave way to surprised approval when he saw that she had managed to struggle into her own harness. Very incredibly proud of herself, she flashed a huge, toothy grin before swiping his map. Both maps were carefully folded up and placed beneath her seat. Just let the Griffin jerks get them there!

"Are you ready?" He eyed her straps again, as though doubting that she had really secured them correctly.

"Aye, aye, pilot." She effected a jerky salute and turned to the navigation equipment. "Eh, what do I do?"

Wufei laid his hands on the extensive console for a second. Then his fingers fairly flew across the dashboard, flicking and tapping so many switches and buttons in so little time that Amy began to wonder if the system was really on, or if he was just fooling with her. Within moments, the shuttle re-activated the air-lock and cut power to the overhead lights. He turned to face her, the shuttle bay lights casting deep shadows across his countenance. "You, onna, do nothing. I can handle this envoy shuttle."

Amy sighed and batted at a switch with her mitten. "Awwww. That's no fun. . . ."

"Don't touch."

A familiar crackling sounded over the shuttle's communicator. "All ready, you two?" Captain Nagaru inquired.

Wufei flexed his hands experimentally and gripped two joysticks, one at the end of either arm of his chair. "We're prepared, Captain. Open the shuttle bay doors."

"All righty, then." The outer shuttle bay doors clanged once, then slowly eased open. "I wish you the best of luck on your mission!"

The Chinese man nodded silently and switched the communicator off, focusing on the star-speckled void beyond the doorway. Amy stared, entranced, as he expertly piloted the shuttle through the doors. Once they had cleared the transport shuttle, he flicked a few switches located above his head. Now the envoy shuttle was illumined only by the glowing switches and buttons which bedecked the console. Wufei took a deep breath and shifted his right hand on its joystick. His thumb arced up to compress a small green button at its head and the engine began to thrum, pulsing until the entire ship seemed to vibrate with the power. He quickly adjusted a set of levers and the noise settled down to a contented purr.

"To Altaos Beta?" He turned to Amy, a slight smile on his face. At her breathless nod, he grasped both joysticks and threw his weight forward.

The envoy shuttle jetted forward, heading for a small spheroid that resembled a well-worn medicine ball-grey and lumpy. Within ten minutes, they were entering the planet's atmosphere. Wufei eased up on the controls, working them separately in an attempt to keep the shuttle level. Amy just gripped the armrests in torturous silence as the shuttle seemed to plummet toward the ground.

"Aren't we going a little fast?" she cried desperately, her voice squeaking with panic.

Wufei seemed to be scowling at the rapidly approaching ground. "I have everything under control. . . ." He concentrated harder, squinting out the windshield (as it were).

I will not panic. I will remain calm. He can't think I'm weak. . . . Aaaaah! Screw that! She squeezed her eyes closed and began to pray, but hard.

Before she could make a complete fool of herself, she heard twin jets of energy to the aft of the shuttle and felt a peculiar buoyancy followed by a small jolt. Still holding her breath, she opened first one eye, then the other. They were on solid ground.

"We're alive," she breathed.

Choosing to ignore her, Wufei automatically disengaged his restraints, motioning for Amy to do the same. As she carefully disentangled the demon straps, he turned back to the console and created a short auto-pilot program which would take it back up to the transport shuttle. By the time she had effectively extracted herself-at least enough so she could squeeze out the rest of the way herself-he was ready to tap in his authorization code. Amy shouldered both packs at his unspoken signal and hopped out into the bleak environment of Altaos Beta. Wufei joined her in a few seconds, manually sealing the door behind him. He relieved her of his own pack before they sprinted a few meters from the envoy shuttle. From a safe distance, they watched it rise into the air and rocket off into space.

Affording a quick glance around, Amy accumulated all the information she needed as of yet. It was white. And cold. The plateau stretched on for kilometers, surrounded by a nearly impenetrable ring of mountains. Unfortunately, the mountains did little to shield the plateau from the fierce planetary winds. Her face, surrounded by a thick lining of fleece, practically froze within a minute.

"Well, let's get started. We should be able to enter the mountains well before nightfall. Then we'll just go as far as we can from there. There will be caves where we can spend the night." Wufei pointed east-or north . . . . It was hard to tell with the sun directly overhead.

Amy knelt and quickly pulled a grey scarf from her pack. As she wound it about her face, her eyes silently followed the thick fleecy length of his sleeve and arm. He was pointing at the most daunting, the most rugged, the most unfun of all of the mountains. But, if her memory served her correctly. . . . Ah-ha!

"There's a pass we can slip through over in this direction." She knew that was west. So he was definitely pointing toward the east. "It's not that wide and it looks like there are some pretty tricky spots, but we can manage it. I mean, really, it's better than climbing a sheer cliff wall." She grinned, proud of herself for being useful already. Take that, you woman-hater, you!

But he shook his head. "The majority of the Evionite deposits lie to the east. The pass you saw would take us in the wrong direction entirely. Then we'd have to cross twice the number of mountains we just avoided. No; this is the fastest and easiest way." He trekked eastward, gesturing for her to follow.

Bah. She firmly tugged the scarf over her nose and shifted the pack on her back before following him, shuffling in his footsteps in an attempt to conserve energy for heat.

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