21-Mar-2006
Title: Launch 16/?
Author: TB
Archived: GWA and
http://www.geocities.com/brother_maxwell/TB_home_page.html
Category: yaoi
Pairing: 3x4
Disclaimer: The plot and characters of Gundam Wing are used here
without permission or profit.
Spoilers: For the series and EW.
Notes: Enter the Space Heart again.
Summary: Quatre has an idea for getting on the IEO, but it's an uphill
battle to convince Duo and Sally.
"Heero?" Quatre repeated, shocked. "I can't believe he just walked in."
"Isn't that what he always does?" Duo laughed as he accepted yet another coffee from Sally. While the older woman strapped herself back into her seat opposite Quatre, Duo added, "Isn't it weird? That we were just talking about him, and then all the sudden he shows up. Maybe it's stupid, but I have a good feeling about this. Khushrenada just had the jump on us. Chang knows how we operate and he used it to keep us in the dark until it was too late. And Barton's one smart SOB."
Quatre exhaled hard. "Yes," he agreed, looking out his window at the bright blue sky and radiant clouds.
Sally kicked Duo's boot with her own. "Shuddap," she said companionably. "Look... no-one's brought this up yet, Quatre, but there's something I want to say. It doesn't seem coincidental to me that they chose the IEO. And that you're not on it right now."
That made him look back. "I know," he said after a moment. "I've been thinking about it." He shrugged uncomfortably. "Wufei encouraged me to join the first tour," he added.
"Maybe that was what gave them the idea," Duo suggested. "I mean, hell. I could probably tell you the entire nine-month schedule. You didn't think about anything else for three months before you launched." He sipped his coffee carefully, blowing on the surface to cool it. "It is convenient that you're not on the ship, though," he mused. "Barton knew you weren't, since I called him about your surgery."
"They could have pushed up their plans to take advantage of your absence," Sally agreed. "Why contend with a Gundam pilot if you don't have to?"
"I'm not sure." Quatre pulled the shade down over the window as the sunlight grew too bright to look at. "Anyway. So where's Heero stationed?"
"Officially he's working on locating the IEO and getting us in contact with it. Unofficially he's also looking for the origin of the warheads." He drank from his coffee again, and Quatre considered saying something about caffeine intake, but decided it would be wiser to just stay silent. "Meanwhile, Une's convincing Brussels to keep his shorts on."
"He's not seriously considering acceding to Khushrenada's demands?"
"He didn't last time, but twice in one presidency is probably enough to convince the man that God has his number on speed-dial," Sally said with a sly grin. "He's been down-playing rumours that he'll run for a second term. Even if we run a clean op and put Khushrenada out of business for good, I don't think we'll see his name on the ballot again."
"Too bad," Duo said. "I voted for the bastard."
Quatre had to smile at that. "I didn't know you voted."
"I know you don't," Duo countered. "I always thought that was weird."
He lifted one hand and let it fall in a gesture of apathy. "Sometimes-- I don't know. I guess I don't feel like it matters anymore what I think. I didn't fight a war for a specific party. As long as they're not Romafeller, minor policy disagreements don't bother me." There were five major parties in the Senate as it was, and they kept most of the big issues grid-locked while under-the-table deals accounted for the necessity of running the ESA. Not being affiliated with a particular party had made it both easier and harder to get the IEO pushed through last year's spring term, and three of the key members who'd been on his side had been voted out of office immediately after they'd passed the bill allocating funds.
"We've got a short layover in Spain," Duo said eventually. "Think you'll recognise the place-- Dorada."
Quatre dropped his head back against the seat cushions. "Do all roads actually lead there, or does it just feel like it?"
"Well, it is the most convenient port," Duo said, but he was smiling. "It's the only marina in the area big enough to refuel a ship the size of the Longhorn, and we're picking up a number of swiftboats from them, too. It should take about an hour to get it all ready."
"We're cutting it awfully close, aren't we?" Quatre asked seriously. "Even if we run at full-speed, we're just going to make it."
"Wufei can count as well as the rest of us," Sally said drily. "He could speculate how long it would take us to pull together a team and set the op in motion." She crossed her legs and sank deeper into her seat. "We can't forget that they have hostages. As long as there's a chance the crew of the IEO are still alive, we can't just carpet bomb the ship and try to contain the nuclear damage."
It was something he hadn't wanted to ask. He liked to think that Wufei and Trowa would value innocent lives. There were thirty-three people on the IEO. But there had been ten wardens in Lyaksandro Prison, and only two of them had walked away from that attack.
"I've been thinking," he said. "About why you ruled out an amphibious assault."
"We didn't rule it out," Duo said. "We just couldn't think of a way to make it work."
"Deck Five Launch Bay can't be closed. It's got a storm crash, but there's a fail-safe on the outside for that. I know the key."
"We know," Sally said, puzzled. "We took it into account, I promise. We also had to account for the fact that they're going to expect someone to enter at their weak point. And for the IEO's surveillance capacity. They'd see us coming on a dozen different monitors before we even got within missile range. They're going to see the Longhorn coming, too."
"But here's the thing," Quatre said, leaning forward. "Most of the sensory equipment on the IEO is geared toward oceanography. Even the roving satellites are calibrated more toward sonar, conductivity, salinity, current movement... You have to know how to read those. The biggest danger we're really facing is from the video feed and perimetre monitors."
"It's not an inconsiderable amount of danger," Sally interrupted. "And they've been on that ship long enough to have added their own equipment."
"Where they can, yes, but water-cams can only penetrate to a certain depth, and it's not like the ocean is empty-- there's a lot to pick up on radar. Besides, anything they add inside and out has to be linked to one of three points, with the bridge holding all primary systems." He held up his hand to forestall her comment. "I know I'm not making a good case yet. I'm just trying to think my way through it."
Duo was watching him closely. "And?" he encouraged. "What are you thinking of?"
"I think any surveillance can be fooled," he said slowly. "And our chances of success are higher because Khushrenada's people are military, not scientists. And... and the majority are colonists, aren't they? People who have about as much experience in the water as you and I do. That's a big, scary world, Duo, with a lot of strange things in it."
Duo acknowledged that with a bit of a grin. "I took Deathscythe into the Sea of Japan my first week on Earth. I almost peed my shorts when I saw a shark. I didn't know fish that big existed-- or that they had that many teeth. It was all I could do not to take a swipe at it with my thermal weapon, and I had several tons of Gundamium armour."
Sally's lips were pursed. "All right," she conceded, "I see where you're going with this. But you still haven't told us how to get a team to that launch bay safely."
"Maybe not a team. Maybe-- maybe just one person."
"No," Duo said, and Sally was barely a beat behind. "First of all," Duo said, and now it was him leaning forward, "we've got no way of getting one person in without encountering all the same problems as before. Secondly, I am not sending you in on your own!"
"And I'm in full agreement," Sally growled. "I can't even begin to list the risks in that."
"But what if I had a plan," Quatre tried. "What if I could get to the ship, get into the launch bay without being noticed? Having a man on the inside could be the difference between nine warheads exploding in the Atlantic and capturing Khushrenada with minimal bloodshed."
"Do you have a plan?" Duo demanded.
"Yes," he admitted reluctantly. "But it's going to sound absolutely crazy and... I'm not sure you're going to believe me."
"That's not a good start," Sally muttered. She lifted a knuckle to her mouth, biting lightly as she considered him. "I'm willing to listen with an open mind," she said finally. "But I won't guarantee anything more than that."
"Duo?"
Duo was glaring at him. "You've gotten everything else you wanted so far, haven't you?" he said sourly. "Why the hell not?" He subsided when Quatre, guilty, looked away. "Fine," he said in a much softer tone. "I promise to listen. But that's all I promise."
It was as good as he was going to get, and he knew their reservations would only change to outright hostility if he tried to bargain for anything more. Besides; it sounded crazy even to him.
"You know I've got-- some kind of empathic ability," he began cautiously. Duo shrugged and nodded, and to his surprise, so did Sally. Apparently she really did take an interest in the Gundam pilots, if she knew something that very few people still alive did. "It seemed to be part of my heart condition," he added vaguely. "Sometimes when people I cared about were hurt, I would have pain in my chest and it was like I was in their bodies, not mine. But it was only for-- really horrible moments, times of incredible loss or sadness. Sometimes other deep emotions, if they were strong enough. When I was younger it was worse. I didn't even know that what I was feeling came from other people before my MVPS was diagnosed and I started taking medication. For months I felt like I was wrapped in cotton batting-- it was like I couldn't hear suddenly. Everything was fuzzy and indistinct. H-- the man who built my Gundam-- he was the one who really figured out the connection. I think now he was trying to design Zero System to interact with it somehow. But that's not the point of this."
He drew a deep breath for strength, and spoke even more carefully than before, trying to find exactly the right words. "Since the surgery it's been different. It's like the cotton's been taken away. It's like-- I'm not entirely sure how to explain it, but it seemed like everyone was being so open with their feelings. Or I'd started noticing more. But two nights ago I realised that it was whatever this ability is. Something about the surgery brought it back." He looked at Duo. "I know how angry you are with me. And I know that a big part of it is that you're scared I'll die. You've lost a lot of people you cared about. In your mind, I was safe as a civie. And my presence here is distracting you from what you need to do-- and, I'm sorry for that."
Duo flushed a little, his eyes darting to Sally and away. "How do you know this has to do with being psychic?" he said, a little defensively. "Maybe you just know me really well."
"I like to think I do," Quatre said, and managed a little smile. "Look, let me finish, or I'll never get this all out." He licked his lips. "You remember how the other night, I left the hotel?"
"Snuck out," Duo retorted. "You scared the crap out of me."
He didn't let himself get sidetracked by apologising again. "I woke up because someone was calling me. I went down to the beach, way out past the jetties. It was Albert."
"Albert?" Sally asked, raising an eyebrow. But Quatre was watching Duo, who was starting to turn a little red around the ears.
"A dolphin," Duo said flatly. "You snuck out in the middle of the night because a dolphin called you? What did it use, the 'vid?"
"I could understand him," Quatre said. "Earlier that day, at the Aquarium, I thought he spoke to me. He did. That night on the beach, I could understand everything he was thinking. It wasn't quite talking... but I just knew. I can get to Deck Five Launch Bay, Duo. Albert can take me there."
"All right, this is a little weird for me," Sally confessed. There was a deep frown creasing her forehead. "Back up. Albert is a dolphin?"
"I spent a lot of time learning to swim with Albert in Dorada," Quatre told her. "I don't know if it helped that we already had a connection, that he knew me. But when Duo and I went back after my surgery, something had changed. I know he can take me to the IEO. We went into deep water that night--"
"You went into deep water with a god-damn dolphin?" Duo exploded. "You were just wearing a wet suit! No-one knew where you were! What the hell were you thinking, Quatre, you could have drowned and no-one would ever have known!"
"I know," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "But I also knew that wouldn't happen. He wanted me to see what he sees. That was all. The point is that I know it can work. I was out with Albert that night for almost four hours and he brought me back exactly where we started. The Longhorn has its own launch bays, right? We take Albert with us. He and I launch before you get within radar range of the IEO. Send me with an arsenal if it makes you feel better, but I can get on the IEO on Deck Five and no-one on the ship will even know I'm there. I know how to access the bridge from the dry labs. At the very least I can create some distractions, maybe free the crew." Neither agent looked remotely convinced. He tried again. "We all know I bullied my way onto your team. So use me. You've got expert marksmen and a bomb squad and you've got a good strategy for eliminating the warheads. You don't need me tagging along to help with any of that. Put me where I can help. Inside my ship. I know every corridor and every piece of equipment. I can set off enough alarms to keep them chasing me until you're within range. It's one more edge."
He thought he had Sally. She was thoughtful, anyway. But when she spoke, he knew instantly that she didn't believe him. "I can't tell Une we're adding a dolphin to the team," she said, trying to sound amused and not quite making it past annoyed.
"She knows you were continuing to consider an amphibious assault."
"With divers and manned subs and attack boats," she replied cooly.
"Duo," Quatre appealed.
"I don't have time to think about this," Duo said, and turned his face away. "You don't spring this shit on me two hours before we begin a black op."
He switched back to Sally. "At New Edwards Base you called on Heero Yuy to shut down the missile detonation that Une had ordered. There was absolutely no reason to think a fifteen year old boy who'd just been tricked into killing all hope of peace between Earth and the colonies could manage the impossible, but you believed in him."
That made her scowl at him. "That's completely different."
"You're right. I'm not Heero Yuy, and I'm just asking for permission to board a boat."
"Say we authorise this," Sally challenged him, folding her arms under her breasts. "And you and your dolphin go out into the ocean. And something goes wrong. Maybe the dolphin decides the fun is over and he leaves you stranded."
"I'll wear a GPS locator," Quatre said. "You can pick me up after the operation is over. If it goes south, then we're all dead anyway." He shook his head. "I'm fully aware of the risks. I'm not saying I'm not a little scared. But drowning isn't a lot different from being shot down, and I'm at risk of that whether I go over the top with you or sneak in through the Launch Bay."
Duo spoke, still glowering at the wall. "I want proof," he said briefly.
That threw him. "Proof," Quatre repeated. "All right. Well-- we'll be at the marina anyway. Come with me to the Aquarium. I have to ask him, after all."
"You mean you can't just order him?" Duo muttered snidely. Then he grimaced. "I am scared of losing you," he said even more quietly. His long fingers were clenched around his coffee cup. "Damn it, Quatre. I just barely got reconciled to you being on the team. Now you want me to throw you off into the deep end. Literally."
"I know Albert isn't the same as a Gundam," Quatre answered gently. "But I trust him all the same, to watch out for me, to get me where I need to be. Just like I trust you to get your ass on the ship so I'm not alone out there in hostile territory."
"All the same, I'm going to hope your dolphin's on vacation."
It took an effort to keep his relief off his face. He only nodded solemnly, and kept his mouth shut.
They didn't talk again until they landed. Sally, he knew, had passed beyond sceptical into concerned for his mental agility; and she was taking her lead from Duo, who had grown stubborn in the final half-hour and now wore a slightly belligerent expression. It almost made Quatre sorry he'd brought it up, but he knew in his gut that it could work. Would work, if they'd only let him try. He didn't think yet about what he would do if they wouldn't. He concentrated all his effort on maintaining a game face: ready but relaxed, confident but not cocky. They had to believe he was capable as much as Albert. If he was honest, and he tried to be, the past week with Duo had probably not been a rousing testament to his undaunted strength. And the flight was tiring him, the pressure in the cabin producing an ache in his chest and faint nausea in his stomach. He managed to wrangle a tomato juice from the stock in the back without arousing any suspicion. He changed his mind, and got two-- forcibly removing Duo's coffee cup and replacing it with the second juice, and getting a glare for his effort. But they didn't speak, and Duo drank the juice and got some colour back in his face, and Sally smirked at him a little as if to say she was impressed, but not that impressed.
When the landing gear came down and they were strapping themselves in, Duo dropped the other shoe. "All right, Sparky," he told Quatre gruffly. "You've got half an hour to get to the marina and-- ask the dolphin if it wants to come with you. And convince the marina staff to let the dolphin go." He snapped his belt and tightened it. "And convince me that this crazy idea will work."
"It will," Quatre answered. "You'll see."
"No, I won't." Duo jerked his chin at Sally. "She will. One of us has to oversea the loading of the Longhorn. But if you convince Sally, then I'll take you both at your word."
Quatre glared at him while Sally began to chuckle. "I hate it when you think you're being clever," he muttered at Duo. It was clever, though, and probably too clever. Duo at least accepted that Quatre could sometimes know what others were feeling. Sending him out to the marina with the Sally was tantamount to shutting him down. Then he sighed, and corrected himself. Duo wouldn't do that to him, not after agreeing to hear him out. Duo was just trying to make sure that the final decision was made by someone who wasn't manipulated by their friendship and their history. And he was right to do that. So he summoned a smile instead.
"It's a deal," he said firmly.
End Part 16
(:./erin/launch16)
