Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 80 ( Chapter 80 )

“Family Ties”

 

January 2007 ShenLong

 

Chapter 80

 

[ESUN Headquarters]

 

Une brought her car to a stop and parked it in the ESUN parking area beneath the building. The drive from Preventer had been nothing short of a nightmare. Obviously Barton's little broadcast had been witnessed by the majority of the earth sphere and people were starting to panic. She made a mental note to try and contact the police departments and see what they were doing about this, they were going to need some sort of presence out and about to stop the fear before it got to the anger and resentment stage, and Une hadn't witnesses a lot in the way of the boys in blue.

 

It would have to wait though, right now she had more pressing problems.

 

Entering the building, she found it also in a state of chaos. Ignoring it as best she could, she took the stairs and made her way to the floor where Relena's office and the boardrooms were situated. Entering the room, she paused to take in the sight and took a deep breath. This was not going to be easy.

 

Relena had done an excellent job in getting together the senators she could in the short space of time. Shame they all didn't act with the same maturity that Relena was showing. Right now they were all bickering amongst themselves.

 

Relena was doing her best to keep the peace, but it was futile. Comments were flowing thick and fast - none of them nice either. Everyone it seemed had their own opinion on the situation and they were not at all happy with having their day disrupted in this manner. Having seen and heard enough, Une walked over to the empty chair next to Relena. Putting her fingers to her mouth, she let fly with an ear piercing whistle - one Duo would have been proud of.

 

Immediately the room fell silent as senators blocked their ears and turned angry glares at the source of the noise.

 

“Thank you,” Une said as they ceased their arguing. “Senators, please be seated, we have much to discuss,” Une addressed them and then took her own seat. Beside her Relena gave her a grateful smile.

 

The muttering had started again amongst the senators, but Une ignored it for the moment, instead she turned to Relena. “How many are missing?”

 

“There's eight we couldn't get in touch with. I have six who are off planet on video feed and a further four who are on earth but on other continents. They are also on vid feed. It's the best I could do.”

 

“That's fine, Relena. Thank you for getting them all here with such short notice.” Une turned her attention back to the senators and the muttering that was starting to pick up in volume. Before it could get any louder, she stood up and cleared her throat.

 

“Senators. Thank you all for responding so quickly to this urgent meeting. I take it you have all witnessed the broadcast?”

 

The majority of heads nodded the affirmative and there were a few muttered `yeses' in there too.

 

“Then you are all aware of Barton's demands and what he is capable of if we do not meet those demands?”

 

Again, more nods and mutters.

 

“As of this moment, we have forty-five minutes left in which to discuss those demands and decide what to do about them.”

 

“I think it's perfectly clear what we do about this Barton fellow and his demands. No way am I standing down,” Senator Harvey stated firmly.

 

“Hear, hear,” muttered several others.

 

“If the ESUN board stands down then the earth and the colonies will be thrown into chaos,” Senator Lynch put in.

 

“If we don't stand down then we're going to be thrown into chaos anyway, probably worse,” muttered Adams.

 

“I think you would have to agree, Commander, it isn't in the best interests of the board to stand down and let this... this common man take over,” Williams confronted.

 

“Whether it be in the best interests or not for the board is not for me to say. My concern is for the public, the citizens of earth and the colonies. They are the ones that will suffer. Already there is unrest, uncertainty out there on the streets. People are scared, they don't know what is happening and it won't be long before that fear turns to anger,” Une snapped.

 

“Senators, please.” Relena stood up. “It is quite obvious from what Barton has said that he wants the board to stand down so he can take over the rule of the earth and colonies. After seeing what he's already done, I don't think we have that much choice in the matter...”

“Senator Peacecraft, we cannot just vacate our positions and leave the earth and colonies in the hands of a madman!” Harvey exclaimed.

 

“I'm not suggesting that we hand over complete control to this man,” Relena returned.

 

“He already has complete control,” Une muttered.

 

“What was that, Commander? Could you please repeat that so we can all hear?” Williams snarled.

 

“I said, he already has complete control,” Une growled.

 

“And what exactly do you mean by that?”

 

“I thought you saw the broadcast?” Une shot back with a raised eyebrow.

 

“You obviously are aware of more than we are; elaborate, Commander,” demanded Williams.

 

Une gave a sigh and began to explain what she knew of the Firecell and how it would affect the earth and colonies. The senators all sat and listened, shock dawning on a few faces as they suddenly had a much clearer insight into what this virus was capable of.

 

“Isn't it your job and that of the people you employ at Preventer to stop this sort of thing from happening?” questioned Lynch.

 

“Yes, it is.”

 

“Then you haven't done your job properly, have you? Obviously not if this Barton fellow has managed to get this far.”

 

Une bristled. “How dare you!” she snarled.

 

“The truth hurts, does it, Commander?” sneered Lynch.

 

“Preventer is doing everything it possibly can to stop this Barton from achieving his goals.”

 

“Then it's not enough if he's already released this Firecell virus.”

 

“For your information, senator,” Une spat, “I currently have agents working around the clock to try and stall this virus. I have agents en-route to arrest this Barton and his followers, risking their lives to save ungrateful idiots like you...”

 

“If you have a way to stall this virus, why haven't we been informed? It seems quite obvious to me that Preventer has known about this for some time, and yet you didn't think it necessary to inform the ESUN board? Or to prevent this from happening in the first place?” Lynch snorted. “Call themselves Preventers; more like a group of little old ladies.”

 

Une's rage was beginning to take hold. She grasped the edge of the table to stop herself from shaking. Her brown eyes narrowed and ice ran through her voice as she addressed the senator. “There is a lot more to this investigation than you, or any of you are aware of. The virus was only discovered a few days ago and one of our agents has worked himself into the ground trying to find a way to stop it. Fortunately for us, he's not as selfish as you and despite his partner having been kidnapped a couple of weeks ago and currently held in enemy hands, he's worked tirelessly to develop a program in an attempt to stop this virus from taking over.”

 

“Then why is this Barton fellow able to take over control of things if this agent has done such a wonderful job? Must be a pretty piss weak agent.”

 

A few snickers were heard around the room.

 

Relena placed a hand on Une's arm in an attempt to calm the Commander down. She could see that Une's temper and control were at breaking point and Relena wasn't particularly keen to see the psychotic side of the woman come out.

 

Taking a deep breath, Une stared at the senator. “Have you any idea how many computer programs there are out there? There's the transport system, banking and financial, life support systems, power, gas, fuels; and that's just a few of the major ones. To convert all those systems over would take months - and we don't have that sort of time.” Une glanced at her watch. “We have just thirty minutes left.”

 

“So you say,” Lynch sniped. “I'm sorry, Commander, this is all bullshit and I for one do not intend to stand down. Let this Barton try to do his worst.”

 

“You know this will mean war?” Senator Adams said.

 

“Not necessarily,” Lynch replied. “We have the means to take this Barton fellow out. “

 

“Really? What means?” Relena questioned.

 

Lynch fidgeted for a moment and then decided to let the peace loving princess in on a little secret. “Although we do prefer to live in peace, there is always the threat of something like this happening; a dictator raising his head, thinking he can do a better job. The Preventers know where this Barton fellow is hiding out, the Commander has all but stated that. Once the ESUN knows it's just a simple case of sending off a few long range missiles and destroying where he is.”

 

Une shook her head and laughed. She couldn't help it, the more she thought about it, the more she laughed.

 

“And just what is so funny, Commander?” Lynch snapped.

 

“You are,” Une snickered. “I can't believe how thick headed you are. Have you not listened to a word that's been said?”

 

Lynch frowned.

 

“Those missiles are programed by a computer. Their flight path, launch, destination and detonation are all controlled by computers.”

 

“Your point being?”

 

“Barton has control over all the computers. There's not a snowball's chance in hell those missiles will be launched.”

 

The room fell into silence as Une's words hit home.

 

“It looks to me like this is a case of check-mate,” Senator Ruben said softly.

 

“Okay, assuming this Barton fellow does take control over the computers and runs the resources, he still has to gain the trust and following of the people, and they aren't going to like being dictated to,” Lynch protested.

 

“Trust me, the people will panic when they find all their conveniences under the control of one man. They will panic first, then the anger will follow, that will lead to rioting and the like. It will become a vicious circle.” Une's comm unit beeped and she grabbed for it. “Commander Une,” she said as she turned from the table.

 

“Commander, this is Sky. I have an incoming communication from shuttle PA 221. An Agent Fire and Agent Night wish to speak with you on a matter of some urgency.”

 

“Shit!” Une's heart went into her mouth, a feeling of relief washed over her with the knowledge that Agent Night was back in their fold. “One moment, Sky.” Une turned to the board members. “Please, excuse me for a moment. This is a call I really need to take.” Not waiting for a reply, Une stepped out of the boardroom and into the smaller, reception room.

 

“Okay, Sky. Put me through.”

 

* * *

 

[Preventer Shuttle PA 221]

 

“Make some tea he says. I'll give him fucking tea,” Quatre ranted as he banged around in the small galley. It was a well known fact that Quatre couldn't cook to save his life, and that, so it seemed, extended to his tea making skills too.

 

He yanked the water container over, put the small hose into the water heater and filled it up. Turning the machine on, he fetched four drinking containers. Although there was a certain amount of gravity naturally occurring on the satellite and the shuttle itself had its own gravitational pull, the galley was only equipped with items used in zero gravity. They were perfectly functional in either setting and with limited space to contain and store items, there was no point in having two separate sets of utensils.

 

With the water heating nicely, Quatre rummaged around and located the tea, sugar and milk powder. Placing the required amounts into each drinking vessel, he added the water when it was hot enough. Shaking the containers to mix everything together, he grabbed them up and headed for the cockpit and the others, still muttering under his breath about obnoxious Chinese agents.

 

Trowa had located the first aid kit and also aimed for the cockpit. He needed to treat Duo as quickly as possible. He checked the med kit over, making sure he had plenty of everything he thought he would need and with a bottle of water in hand, deemed he had everything.

 

Wufei led Duo to the cockpit and sat the other agent down in the copilot's chair. He passed Duo a head set, knowing that the first priority was to contact headquarters and let them know Duo was safe. Then Duo could speak with the Commander and let her know what had been going on.

 

Flipping a few switches, he waited for the static to clear a little. “Preventer Communications, this is shuttle PA 221, Agent Fire here. Do you read?”

 

There was another burst of static and Wufei checked the signal. His eyes told him something had happened whilst they'd been inside the satellite dome and he could only think it must have been Barton's releasing of the Firecell. He made a mental note to check the entire computer system once their communication was complete and double check they still had everything on line. He could only hope that Heero's programing had worked. He knew it most likely had as the shuttle had still been cloaked when they arrived back, but that didn't mean any other systems hadn't been affected.

 

“Preventer communications, this is shuttle PA 221, Agent Fire requesting you acknowledge.”

 

Another burst of static.

 

“Shit!”

 

“Chang?” Duo questioned.

 

“It's okay, Maxwell. Yuy managed to learn a little about this Firecell and he reprogrammed the shuttle.”

 

“I see.” Duo's heart skipped a beat and a lump formed in his throat as he thought of his husband, lover and best friend.

 

Wufei neglected to add that they hadn't a clue if the reprogramming had worked.

 

“Preventer communications, this is Agent Fire, shuttle PA 221, do you copy? Come in please.”

 

Another burst of static, then...

 

“Preventer shuttle PA 221, this is Preventer communications, Agent Sun speaking. We copy you.”

 

“Thank Nataku for that.”

 

“Sorry, Agent Fire. It's a bit chaotic down here.”

 

“Sun, I need to speak with the Commander, urgently. Our retrieval mission was successful. We have Agent Night back in safe territory.”

 

“Roger that, Fire. Commander is at ESUN headquarters right now. She has a comm unit on her and I'll get Sky to contact her. Please stand-by for a patch through.”

 

“Roger that, Sun.” Wufei turned to Duo. “You hear all that?”

 

Duo nodded.

 

“Why would the Commander have a comm unit and not her cell?”

 

“Barton.”

 

“Eh?” Wufei looked around expecting to see Trowa, but the cockpit was empty save the pair of them.

 

“Barton. He's released the Firecell. That's how I managed to get out of my cell. Having released the Firecell all communications will be down, he controls everything,” Duo whispered.

 

“Fuck,” Wufei muttered.

 

“Agent Fire, this is Sun.”

 

“Fire here. Go ahead, Sun.”

 

“We are patching you through to the Commander now.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

[Mansion]

 

Nurse Brown had been busy feeding Keitaro when Sally had arrived with the news on Heero and his flight to the satellite. She hadn't been all that happy, mainly because Heero himself hadn't been the one to let her know, but she soon forgave him that indiscretion when Sally explained all that they knew up to that point.

 

Rather than leave the nanny alone with the child, although the mansion had excellent security, Sally informed Margaret that she would be staying with her whilst Heero was away.

 

Given that Wufei was also away on the same mission, Margaret welcomed the company. Whilst Siska or Marina were around during the day, they had their own families to look after and usually took their leave in the late afternoon. That left just Keitaro, Miracle, Barney and Fred for Nurse Brown to have a conversation with. Not exactly the best candidates even if they were good company.

 

Sally had brought Margaret up to speed with what was happening, although she didn't have all the details. At this stage all Sally really knew was that Duo had been confirmed as being on the satellite and Wufei, Trowa and Quatre had gone to extract him. She wouldn't call it `rescue' as she knew how strong Duo was and no doubt the man had been doing his best to escape. Once Duo's presence had been confirmed, Une had sent Heero on another shuttle to the satellite. Sally hadn't been enlightened any further on that, it was all very `hush hush' and obviously more to it; but Sally knew the rules and hadn't pressed Une for further details.

 

She was aware of the situation with the possibility of the Firecell; and Heero's attempts to avert the problem should it arise, but she really didn't have all that much of a clue how it would affect Preventer - and frankly, right now she didn't really care all that much. Not that it was far from her mind, no, it's just that right now she was more concerned with Duo and getting the man back safely to earth and his family.

 

Both Sally and Nurse Brown had discussed in depth Duo's possible pregnancy. Margaret had told Sally all she could remember of the man's condition during their abduction and the more Sally had learnt and thought about it, the more convinced she was that Duo was once again with child.

 

And that was not good at all.

 

Both women were at the mansion and sharing breakfast, Margaret feeding Keitaro his baby cereal with the television on in the background. Margaret liked to watch the morning news and current affairs programs whilst feeding the child, she claimed it kept her up to date with the goings on in the world. The broadcast had been interrupted and Margaret got more than she bargained for when Barton showed up on the screen and released his demands to the earth and colonies.

 

The screen went blank, both women simply sitting there and staring at it as the ramifications of what they had just witnessed set in. Eventually Margaret got up and turned the set off. Sitting back down she looked to Sally. “I'd say we're in a bit of a pickle here.”

 

“More than a pickle, Margaret. Look, I'm sorry, but I need to get to headquarters immediately. Une did say a few things about this computer virus and what it could do, but I never dreamed it would be...”

 

“I know and I understand,” the nurse replied with a smile. “Don't worry about us, we will be fine.”

 

Sally sighed. “Margaret, given what this fellow has said and demonstrated, I'd suggest you and Keitaro stay here in the mansion. Do not go out for anything at all, remain within the safety of the house and grounds. I'm going to speak with Harim and Raphel, let them know a bit more than what they already do and make some arrangements for all our safety and survival.”

 

“Oh? What sort of arrangements?”

 

“Look, this might sound silly or over the top to you, but trust me on this. I need to move now, I'll let you know more once I've made the arrangements. I'll call you, or get word to you somehow. Promise me you will listen to what I've said and stay here.”

 

“Of course,” Margaret said with a frown. “I trust your word.”

 

“Good. I'll be in touch as soon as I can.” Sally grabbed her bag and left, almost running out of the house to locate Harim.

 

Margaret sat and watched, her mind a whirl of thoughts. Shrugging her shoulders she returned to feeding Keitaro. “I suggest you get used to this, young man. Life in this family is always on a knife edge, you just don't know what to expect next.”

Keitaro gurgled.

 

Sally found Harim outside with the dogs and explained as much as she could about what was going on. Harim understood the woman couldn't elaborate too much, this being Preventer business and all, so he took her word for things and promised her he would do what she asked, even if it did seem a little absurd.

 

Sally asked him to send one of the staff shopping, not just ordinary shopping though, she was quite particular in what she asked him to get. Gas cylinders, batteries, walkie talkies, candles, flashlights and food. She specifically asked for the purchase of canned goods and non perishable items.

 

Harim had scratched his head, but duly noted down all the items requested and let the doctor know he would get Raphel to attend to it immediately.

 

Feeling a little better and knowing the man would stick to his word, Sally left the mansion and headed for Preventer headquarters.

 

* * *

 

[Preventer Transport Shuttle PA 121]

 

“Yuy, are you almost done?”

 

Heero pushed the comm switch. “Just wrapping things up now. Why?”

 

“The footage Une promised has come through and we will be within radar detection of the satellite in another hour. You need to come and take a look at it, then we need to discuss a few things.”

 

“I'll be back up in ten minutes.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Heero pressed a few more keys on his laptop and watched the last of the programs finish up. Unplugging the machine, he allowed himself a soft smile as he gazed upon the five mecha lying peacefully in the belly of the shuttle. The diagnostics tests had all run smoothly and only a couple of minor glitches had been found. Heero had been able to fix them easily enough. The mecha were now as fine tuned as they'd ever been, even in the war.

 

Finally, Heero felt confident and ready to deal with whatever came his way. With one last look around, he left the cargo hold and returned to the cockpit.

 

Zechs looked up as Heero entered. “All okay?”

 

“Hai. Everything is fine and all systems are ready to go.” Heero took a seat. “The footage?”

 

“I haven't looked at it yet, it came through about fifteen minutes ago.”

 

“Put it on,” Heero replied and waited for the screen to boot up.

 

Zechs typed a couple of commands into the computer and the broadcast began to play. It was a little grainy, but both agents could make out Barton's form. The audio was as clear as a bell.

 

They sat, silent as the recording played. Barton's demands were met with a slight narrowing of eyes. The demonstration left both men pale, shocked and angry.

 

“That bastard!” Heero growled. “I want to wring his neck.”

 

“Unfortunately, as much as I'd also like to use the man for target practice, we can't. He has to be brought in alive,” Zechs reminded the other agent.

 

“I know, doesn't mean I can't torture him a little first though,” Heero snarled.

 

“Before you can do that, we have to find him,” Zechs stated with an amused smirk.

 

“Don't worry about that. I'll find him, and when I do he will rue the day he was ever born,” Heero said, his tone low and menacing. “Besides what he's done here, I owe him for taking away from me the one thing that means more than life itself. I also owe the others he took a little payback too.”

 

Zechs raised an eyebrow. Une had filled him in on the situation so he was familiar with Barton's role in the disappearance of one Duo Maxwell. He didn't know about the other part of Duo's abduction though. “Care to elaborate?”

 

Heero gave Zechs a condensed run down on Duo, Nurse Brown and Keitaro's kidnapping, the blonde remaining silent throughout. Heero didn't mention Duo's unusual makeup though, he figured Zechs didn't need to know that right now. If he did, then Heero would tell him if and when it was necessary, but not before.

 

Before Zechs could pass any comment, the computer informed them they were one hour and ten minutes away from their destination.

 

“I think we can discuss Maxwell's abduction a little more shortly, right now we need to figure out how we're going to approach this satellite without detection or suspicion,” Zechs said. “How did the others manage to approach and land without being picked up by Barton?”

 

“They have a cloaking device, something similar to Deathscythe's hyperjammers. Howard has modified the system and adapted it to use on the shuttles. Some have already been converted, the new shuttles come with it as part of the shuttle itself ,” Heero replied.

 

“What about this one?”

 

“The transport shuttles haven't had it installed as yet.”

 

“Well, shit.”

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...