Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 73 ( Chapter 73 )

“Family Ties”

 

January 2007 ShenLong

 

Chapter 73

 

[Mansion]

 

Nurse Brown looked up as Heero walked into the kitchen and frowned at the state of the young man. There were still shadows beneath his eyes and his cheeks were beginning to take on a gaunt look. His unruly hair was even more unkempt if that were possible and he'd also lost a lot of weight.

 

“How did you sleep?” Margaret asked as she fetched a mug of coffee for the young man.

 

“Okay,” Heero replied. “Sally gave me some sleeping pills to take to try and help.”

 

“And did they?” The coffee was placed before Heero who wearily took it and began to sip at the hot liquid.

 

“A little,” he replied honestly.

 

“What you need is a good meal inside you,” Margaret announced and proceeded to shuffle about the kitchen.

 

Heero didn't dare argue. He sat at the table and watched the woman potter about. Even though she only had minimal use of her left hand, she was pretty skilled at working around that problem. Within the space of a few minutes there was a plate of bacon, eggs and pancakes in front of him.

 

“Eat,” commanded the nurse. “I want to see that plate clean.” Sitting back down, Margaret resumed her own breakfast.

 

Heero really didn't feel like eating what the nurse had cooked up for him; not that there was anything wrong with her cooking. He simply didn't feel he could stomach much. But the thought of the nurse's wrath was a far stronger deterrent so reluctantly, Heero picked up his knife and fork and began to eat.

 

Margaret smiled to herself. Whilst Heero obviously didn't really want to eat, his body needed to and he seemed to be more worried about her than forcing the food down. Finishing her own breakfast, she carried the plate to the sink. “I'll go check on Keitaro,” she said. “I'll be back shortly.” Fixing Heero with her steely gaze, she added. “And don't think about slipping any of the food to Miracle either. Barney is watching.”

 

“I wouldn't do that,” Heero replied in a shocked tone, although his cheeks did tinge pink a touch as he had thought about it, but the nurse didn't need to know that.

 

“Barney want a cracker!” demanded the bird from his perch on the back of one of the kitchen chairs.

 

“Keep an eye on him, Barney,” Margaret said and then left the kitchen.

 

Barney ruffled his feathers and fixed Heero with his beady eyes. “Pretty boy, give us a kiss.”

 

Miracle sat at Heero's side and gave a soft whine. Heero dropped a hand to the dog's head and stroked her ears.

 

“Naughty boy, naughty boy,” Barney sang.

 

“I haven't done anything!” Heero snapped in defense.

 

“Ohh, tetchy,”

 

Heero aimed one of his best glares at the bird.

 

Barney wasn't bothered in the least. “Fuck off,” he chirped.

 

“No more peanuts for you,” Heero countered.

 

Barney fluffed his feathers then flew across the kitchen to sit on Heero's shoulder. He snuggled up against Heero's ear and began to nibble lightly on it. “Pretty boy,” he chirruped.

 

“I've got news for you, Barney. That won't work on me.”

 

The weiro seemed to huff, but stopped nibbling at Heero's ear and contented himself with sitting on Heero's shoulder and watching everything from there. Heero resumed his breakfast and did sneak a couple of bits to Miracle, much to the dog's delight.

 

He'd almost finished when Nurse Brown stepped back into the kitchen, Keitaro in her arms. Heero's face lit up at the sight of his son and leaving his breakfast, he reached for the infant and set him in his high chair after sharing a cuddle whilst the nurse fixed Keitaro's breakfast.

 

Resuming the last of his meal, Heero watched as Nurse Brown fed Keitaro his baby cereal.

 

“Are you back at headquarters today?” Margaret asked.

 

“Hai. I've still got several systems to convert,” replied Heero.

 

“When will you hear anything from the other three?”

 

“I'm not sure. They should reach the satellite sometime this evening our time.” Heero knew he could discuss this with Nurse Brown and it wouldn't go any further. Despite it being classified, the nurse was a part of it all and she deserved to know. Besides, Heero knew if he didn't keep the nurse updated she would get her information from Sally anyway.

 

“Please keep me informed as to what is happening?” Margaret requested.

 

“I'll be sure to let you know once the other three call in and I have something to pass on.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Heero finished the remainder of his breakfast and despite it being an effort to get the food down, he did feel better for it. Collecting his briefcase and jacket, Heero kissed his son goodbye and left for work.

 

* * *

 

[Satellite XRB 23]

 

The screen before him lit up and the machine hummed to life. Duo gripped the controls, felt for and found the foot pedals just as the program began to run. He wasn't a stranger to simulators, having spent quite a bit of time in them during his training for piloting Deathscythe. He knew it would be tough and stressful on his body; all he could do though was try to keep the simulator as smooth as possible, hope his body could take it and pray to any god listening that the code he'd put in from the professor would continue to remain silent.

 

Alarms began to ring and he focused on the screens. Suits were coming at him from every angle, weapons drawn and ready to strike. A quick inventory showed he had a thermal sword and a buster rifle. No where near the size of the one Wing Zero had used, but it would be enough for him.

 

He snorted when the thermal sword flared to life. “More like a damn toothpick,” he muttered and swung to defend himself.

 

The suits on screen were swarming around him, weapons slicing through the air as they pressed their attack.

 

Duo took a deep breath and centered himself. A glint appeared in his eye as he let the darkness within surface. His head shot up, hands gripped the controls tight and his mouth opened in a feral scream. “Come on you bastards! Lets see what you've got!” he roared and then threw himself into the battle.

 

“Fucking hell!” swore Peterson from where he stood watching with the other two.

 

“He wasn't a Gundam Pilot for nothing,” Barton smirked.

 

Zaheer watched intently and felt a knot of fear spark in his gut. The look on the young pilot's face was nothing short of unholy.

 

“Now you see why I want to keep him. He would be very useful in training the pilots once we have the earth and colonies under our control. With suit pilots trained by him, we will have the ultimate deterrent should anyone think about rebelling.”

 

Neither of the two men could argue with that.

 

The three continued to watch the simulator battle, Duo ducking, weaving and twirling about as he wielded his weapons and took out the attacking suits.

 

“Now let's see what happens when the doll program kicks in,” Barton said and typed a few commands into the console.

 

Inside the simulator, Duo was breathing harshly. It had been some time since he'd piloted a suit and whilst he was in reasonable shape, he wasn't fit for this kind of exertion. He still wasn't back to his usual level of fitness since having carried and delivered Keitaro, a fact that was becoming painfully evident to him now.

 

He felt the machine take over and as much as his instincts screamed at him not to, he relinquished the control. He sent a silent prayer that the hidden code would remain hidden. With the doll now doing the fighting for him, he took the chance to assess his physical state and recover as best he could.

 

Right now his main priority was the small life he was sure he carried within. Doing his best to remain secure within the harness and not alert those he knew would be watching, Duo closed his eyes momentarily and breathed deep. He let his mind wander over his body, starting with his feet and working upwards. Aside from the soreness there wasn't any major concerns that he could determine at this stage. His abdomen was fairly well protected, the harness not pressing on it in any way but keeping him from being jolted around too much.

 

He didn't get a chance to dwell any longer though as the doll program cut out and the manual kicked back in.

 

“Here we go again,” he muttered and took a firm hold of the control sticks, pivoting and then firing off his rifle.

 

After observing for a few more minutes, Barton gave a smirk. “I think that will be enough. The program is obviously running well enough and no flaws or extras that I can see. I think it would be safe to allow the pilots to take the suits out and give them a test run in space.”

 

Turning away from his companions, Barton typed in his commands and the simulator came to a halt, the program stopped and the shut down sequence began.

 

“Fetch him,” Barton commanded, Peterson jumping to attention and moving to the simulator to do as asked.

 

Releasing the hatch, he gave Duo a hand to release the harness and then assisted the man out of the machine.

 

Duo was grateful to be out and breathe the recycled air. He ached from head to toe and had the beginnings of a headache.

 

“Boss wants to see you,” Peterson informed.

 

With a weary sigh, Duo walked towards the console where Barton and Zaheer waited.

 

“Nicely done,” Barton congratulated. “After that performance I can see that the program is quite efficient.”

 

Duo just snorted. “Now that you have what you wanted from me, any chance you can drop me off at a nearby colony? I'm sure I can make my way home from there.”

 

“Who said I was finished with you?”

 

“I've done what you asked and programmed your dolls!”

 

“And as soon as I let you go you'll be running to the Preventers. I don't think so. Besides, I have another job for you. Your skills as a pilot are most impressive. You will assist in training my suit pilots.”

 

Duo shook his head. “No.”

 

The click of a safety being released sounded beside his left ear and Duo swallowed.

 

“That, Mr Maxwell, was an order. You will train my pilots or Zaheer will eliminate you. The choice is yours.”

 

“Don't suppose I can sleep on it and give you an answer in the morning?”

 

Stars suddenly exploded in his skull as Zaheer clocked him one from behind with the butt of the gun.

 

“Your answer?” Barton prodded again.

 

“Haven't got much of a choice, have I?” Duo snarled.

 

“Good. I knew you would see things from my point of view. Take him back to his room,” Barton said.

 

“Move,” Peterson snapped and shoved Duo from behind.

 

“I'm fucking moving already,” growled Duo and rubbed tenderly at the knot that was forming on the back of his head as his mind tried to find a way out of this nightmare.

 

Barton turned to Zaheer. “Let the pilots work with their suits this afternoon. Tomorrow I will release the Firecell.”

 

* * *

 

[Preventer Shuttle 221]

 

A soft, persistent beeping drew Wufei from his meditation. As he rose up from deep within his meditative state, his mind registered the noise that had disturbed him and he frowned, trying to figure out what it was.

 

“We're coming within range of the satellite's radar,” came the voice from the doorway.

 

Wufei looked up to see Barton standing there. “Ah. I will meet you in the cockpit in just a moment.”

 

Nodding, Trowa left, collecting Quatre on his way.

 

After taking a moment to center himself, Wufei rose and made his way to the cockpit.

 

“I have HQ on the line,” Quatre informed as Wufei stepped into the small area.

 

“Thank you.” Wufei slipped on his head set. “This is Agent Fire. We are approaching the target and preparing to engage the cloaking device.”

 

“Agent Fire, this is Agent Sun. Commander's orders are to proceed as planned. No new information for you at this point.”

 

“Roger that, Sun. Will proceed as planned.”

 

“Contact HQ once arrival is confirmed and report any and all findings.”

 

“Our ETA is three hours given our current speed. Will advise when we have landed and then once we have exited the shuttle.”

 

“Commander's orders are for you to report in within two hours of your deployment. Failure to contact within three hours and we will deem the mission compromised.”

 

“Roger that. Anything else?”

 

“Yes. Good luck.”

 

Behind him, Wufei could hear the soft chuckle that came from Winner. He also had a head set on and obviously had heard the conversation. “Thank you, Sun. Agent Fire, out.”

 

“Preventer communications, out.”

 

“Cloaking system is all fired up and ready to engage,” Trowa informed Wufei.

 

“Engage device now.”

 

“Engaging.”

 

The shuttle gave a soft hum and the vibrations changed slightly, the only indications that the cloaking device was working. For anyone who may have been in the area to observe, one minute the shuttle was there, the next it shimmered and faded from view.

 

“Cloaking device engaged.” Trowa sat back and let out a small puff of air.

 

“I suggest we prepare ourselves for the mission ahead,” said Wufei and stood up. “Suits first, then all the equipment.”

 

Trowa and Quatre silently followed the Chinese agent to the shuttle's hold.

 

* * *

 

[Preventer Headquarters]

 

“How is it coming along?”

 

Looking up from the console he was working at, Heero noted the commander standing there. Pushing back from the desk, Heero turned in his seat to fully face the woman. “It's taking time, but we are making some progress,” he replied.

 

“Good. How much longer?”

 

“At least another forty-eight hours. I've got a back up program running right now along with the conversion program and that is slowing things a little.”

 

“Why the back up program? The system automatically backs itself up each night,” Une stated.

 

“I know, but it backs up into another file area on the main frame. The main frame is constantly running and if this Firecell is released then the back up system will also be affected. I don't have the time right now to convert all that too, so I'm putting in a temporary measure,” Heero informed.

 

Une raised an eyebrow. “Elaborate,” she requested.

 

“I'm backing up the entire system to a separate drive. It won't take too much longer and once complete I will disconnect it. Should the Firecell be deployed before I have a chance to completely convert the system, or should the new file system become corrupt under this Firecell, I will still have the entire Preventer files safe on this drive. Then once we figure out how to stop the Firecell I can reinstate the Preventer system.”

 

Whilst there was more to it than that, Une got the basic picture of what Heero was saying. “Good move, Agent Day. I admit, I didn't think of that.”

 

Heero shrugged.

 

“Agent Sun has been in contact with the shuttle.”

 

Immediately Heero's attention focused fully on Une. “And?”

 

“They are about to engage the cloaking device and prepare to approach the satellite. ETA is in roughly three hours. Fire will contact us again once they have landed and are ready to commence their recon.”

 

“I see.”

 

“I will send someone to fetch you when it is getting closer to their expected contact.”

 

“Arigato.”

 

“Agent Day?”

 

“Hai?”

 

“I just want you to know that I am grateful for all of this.”

 

“Hn.”

 

* * *

 

[Satellite XRB 23]

 

“Not bad,” Barton commented as he watched the suits being put through their paces by his pilots.

 

Zaheer grunted but declined to say anything right now.

 

“There is room for improvement and I daresay these pilots will improve once they get some tutoring from Maxwell,” Barton continued.

 

It was quite obvious to those watching that the pilots were not as skilled as Duo had been in the simulator, but they weren't too bad either. When the suits switched over to doll mode there was a difference; the dolls moving more fluidly. Barton wasn't worried though, with the Firecell as his main 'weapon' and the mobile suits and army as his back up forces, he was confident he wouldn't have much in the way of opposition when he informed the earth and colonies that he was now their ruler.

 

Turning from the viewing screen, he scanned over the information being fed back to the main computer on the performance of the suits. All appeared to be working perfectly. He rubbed his hands together, feeling satisfied with the programing of the suits. “Let them spend another half hour out there and then call them in. I want a full diagnostics report on the suits later this evening.”

 

“As you wish,” Zaheer replied.

 

Without looking back, Barton left.

 

*

 

Having returned to his room, Duo found himself with nothing to do but brood over his situation - and that wasn't a good idea. His mind chased itself in circles, always coming back to the same conclusion. He was pretty much stuck for the moment.

 

If it was only himself to worry about he would have been out of here within minutes of being brought here. But that wasn't the case. He had another to consider, someone who was completely dependent on him for its very life and there was no way that Duo would put at risk the life of a child.

 

He couldn't just sit here and wait to be rescued like a damsel in distress either. He wasn't a damsel, dammit! He was a man - or most of him was at least. Slowly a thought began to form in his mind and the more he thought about it, the more logical it became; in fact, it was really quite simple. So simple he wondered why the hell he hadn't thought about it before.

 

“Maxwell, you're an idiot,” he berated himself. Lying back on his bunk he allowed his mind to mull over the thought, carefully planning things out in his head. He would need a little more information before he would be able to execute his idea, that was if assuming what he thought would happen actually did happen. If it didn't, he was really screwed.

 

The door opened and a weary looking Duric staggered inside. Duo waited until they were alone before he spoke.

 

“Tough day?”

 

Duric fell face first on his bed and lay for a moment before turning his head to speak. “I swear that kindergarten kids are easier to teach.”

 

Duo snorted.

 

“What about you?”

 

Shifting slightly, Duo's face darkened. “I've been in a mobile suit simulator. Barton wanted to make sure that I'd programmed the suits properly and not added anything.”

 

Paling, Duric sat up. “He didn't...”

 

“No.” Duo was quick to cut him off. “The program worked perfectly and the code is still embedded deep within. No one is any the wiser.”

 

A loud sigh of relief left Duric's lips.

 

“When they take you out, where is it they take you to train these troops?” asked Duo.

 

Immediately on alert, Duric sat up straighter as his eyes narrowed. “Why?”

 

“Just trying to get a mental blueprint of this satellite,” replied Duo.

 

“You're up to something and I want to know what it is,” snarled Duric as he moved to the edge of the bed.

 

“I'm not up to anything,” Duo snapped back.

 

“You fucking well are and I'm not giving you anything more until you tell me what it is you're planning.”

 

Duo decided it wouldn't hurt to let Duric know a little of his idea, especially since he had no intentions of leaving the bastard alive if he could help it. Rubbing a hand across his tired eyes, Duo let a puff of air escape. “Okay. I've had an idea...”

 

* * *

 

[Preventer Shuttle 221]

 

“Satellite is off the starboard bow,” Trowa informed.

 

“Can we get a visual on it?” Wufei questioned.

 

“One moment.” Trowa typed on the key board for a moment, the small screen on the console fuzzing and then clearing. “That's the best I can do for now.”

 

Wufei leaned a little closer to better see the screen. “How long before we have a visual from the cockpit?”

 

“Another fifteen minutes,” Quatre told him.

 

“Thank you. Once we are within actual visual range we will scope out the base site and confirm our intended landing point. We will also be able to get a rough idea if anything else has been on the site in the past few days.”

 

“Roger that. I'll let you know once we are within range,” Quatre replied and returned to his navigation, plotting the course to take them to the proposed landing point.

 

Trowa let the computer fly the shuttle, content to watch and observe all that was going on. His skills would be needed soon enough to land the shuttle, for now he fully intended to relax as much as possible.

 

Silence remained in the cockpit as each man monitored his own section. Several minutes passed by and then Quatre broke the silence.

 

“We are coming within visual range now.”

 

“Thank you. Trowa, turn off the auto pilot and take us over the base, please.”

 

“Auto pilot disengaging now.” Trowa flicked a couple of switches and took a firm hold of the yoke.

 

All three men looked out of the shuttle windows to the satellite below.

 

It was a typical satellite. Completely barren of any form of vegetation, rocks and fine, powdery like dirt the only covering, it was quite similar to the moon surface. The base lay ahead, silvery blue metal structures rising from the surface looking completely alien on the surrounding landscape.

 

Trowa guided the shuttle towards the structures, eyes scanning around and picking out a couple of the more obvious sections. There was a landing area off to one side, a small 'runway' connecting it to what appeared to be a hangar. Beyond that lay several domed structures, Trowa assumed they housed the workings of the satellite and also the sleeping quarters for the crew that had once manned the place.

 

Having passed over the domes, Trowa circled the shuttle back to the runway and brought the craft a little lower. “I'll see if I can get us low enough to see if there has been any recent activity in regards to craft having landed or taken off.”

 

“That would be appreciated,” Wufei replied.

 

With Trowa piloting, Wufei and Quatre began a visual search of the ground below. As the shuttle swept past the hangar entrance, Quatre caught a glimpse of something out the corner of his eye.

 

“Wait!”

 

Trowa immediately brought the shuttle to a hover position. “What is it?”

 

“Back there, by the hangar entrance. I thought I saw something.

 

Trowa maneuvered the shuttle as close as he dared.

 

“In there. See it?” Quatre said excitedly.

 

Wufei and Trowa both strained their eyes into the dark bowels of the hangar.

 

“I could swear it's the wing tip of a shuttle.”

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...