Quatre had finally left Trowa's side long enough to get something to eat. He stared doubtfully at the sandwiches that Andrew and Devin had prepared. He hadn't thought it was possible to mess up a sandwich, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to try some of the concoctions that they'd come up with. Who'd ever heard of a sandwich with raw fish, ham, peanut butter, and a half-dozen other things that he couldn't identify. With a slight shudder, he decided to make his own sandwich.
"Not willing to try it either?" Wufei asked as he walked past him. Wufei was sitting at the table, a sandwich obviously of his own construction sitting in front of him.
"How are your ribs?" Quatre asked.
"Tolerable. Trowa?"
"He woke up for a few minutes," Quatre said, sighing in relief. Despite Devin's assurances that Trowa would be fine, he'd worried a lot until Trowa finally woke up and spoke to him (coherently). Only after Trowa fell asleep again did he feel able to go and get the food that Andrew had been insisting he needed. "Has Heero come down yet?"
"No, he's still hacking. I think Andrew went to help him a few minutes ago."
"Heero let him help?" Quatre asked, startled. Heero, not exactly the most friendly of people at any time, was in a worse mood than usual, both because of the betrayal and because of Duo's capture, although it would be difficult to get him to admit it.
"Andrew was muttering something about 'stronger than human' and 'maximum tolerances' last time I saw him," Wufei said. There was a sudden thud from upstairs, and Quatre jumped.
"Omae o korosu."
"Sure, whatever. Eat something, let me take a crack at it, and then you can kill me," said Andrew's voice. "Imagine what will happen if Duo comes back and you're half-dead from exhaustion."
There was a growl, but several seconds later Heero came stomping down the stairs at the same time as Brian wandered in from the other room. Heero shot Brian a murderous glance and then looked at the sandwiches in disgust. He set about making one for himself, glancing at Brian every couple of seconds. Brian stared at him through blank eyes and finally remarked, "Its easier just to let him have his way. He always does, eventually." Then he shot a murderous glance at Quatre, as if it was his fault that his double acted that way.
"You're not eating our sandwiches," said a quiet voice from the doorway.
"Devin! I, ah... " Quatre floundered, trying to find a tactful way to say he was afraid their sandwiches were poisonous.
"Wise decision."
"Oh." Quatre wasn't sure how to respond to Devin downplaying his own sandwiches.
Suddenly both Devin and Brian turned their heads in the same direction. "What is it?" he asked, sensing their sudden tension.
"We hear something," Brian said. "Sounds like engines."
"Engines?" Quatre asked.
"Mobile suit," Heero growled, and it was truly astonishing how quickly five guns appeared at the announcement of that word.
"Are the other suits hidden?" Devin asked.
"Yes. They're hidden from view, but we'll never get to them before this suit arrives," Wufei growled. Now Quatre could hear the sound. It was most definitely a mobile suit, but only one.
"Why would they send only one?" he wondered aloud.
"Could be a scout," Brian offered. "We should stay inside. There's only one of them now. If he's looking for us, he either won't see us or he'll have to get out of his mobile suit."
Heero nodded his agreement. Heero and Brian positioned themselves on either side of the front door while the other three waited in the kitchen, guns still drawn, waiting for a sign that the suit was either going away or landing. It very quickly became apparent that it was not going away. Andrew appeared at the top of the stairs, gun also drawn. A silent shake of Devin's head and a short gesture told Andrew to stay there. They all heard the mobile suit land outside and shut down. There was silence for a few seconds, then someone knocked on the door.
There was a several second wait, then a familiar voice said, "Duo, if I just spent the last hour stuck in the back of that thing and you took us to the wrong place, I'm going to kill you."
"It's the right place!" Duo protested. "They might not be here. I told you I was only guessing!"
Heero had the door open in a fraction of a second. "Duo?"
"Heero!" Duo shouted happily, then struggled for breath as Heero grabbed him in a bone-crushing hug. "How have you guys been?" he asked as soon as Heero loosened his grip enough for Duo to draw in a breath. Heero's eyes traveled up and down Duo's body multiple times, as if to reassure himself that all of Duo was still present.
They didn't get to answer Duo's questions, because Heero let out a growl and dragged him off to one of the upstairs rooms, presumably to continue that examination in privacy.
"Diana?" Andrew asked. Somehow he'd gotten down the stairs without anyone noticing, and was now standing in front of the door.
Diana took a step into the building and immediately wrapped her arms around Andrew, digging her nose into the base of his throat. "It's good to see you again," she whispered, a glad smile on her face. She tilted her head up to kiss him.
"You were frightened, I could feel it... " he said, the question in his voice.
"The sky," she replied, a hysterical tinge in her voice. "It was the fucking sky I was so scared of. I'd never seen the sky without a dome in front of it and I panicked. That's why we got caught. I froze, and I managed to get Duo caught too." She let go of Andrew long enough to give Devin and Brian a quick hug. "Where are Kane, Shin, and Trowa?" she asked, obviously doing the math in her head.
"Trowa's upstairs," Quatre offered. "Our last mission went bad. He sustained a head injury, but he'll be fine. He's just resting."
"Kane went into town to find out what the local buzz is," Devin told her. "And we don't know where Shin is. We know he escaped Oz, but we don't know where he was."
"He was with us," Diana said, glancing to where Duo and Heero had headed. "We got separated."
"Diana," Andrew said slowly. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, I just need to get out of these clothes. I need a shower. I can still smell them. I want to get rid of that."
"Smell?" Andrew asked, his face paler than usual. "Oh, Diana... "
She shook her head. "Not your fault, so don't go blaming yourself. I just... I need a good memory right now." She pressed her lips against Andrew's again.
"Go," Brian said shortly.
"Since when do I take your orders?" Diana asked, but there was a smile on her face. She pulled insistently at Andrew, much the way Heero had pulled at Duo a few moments before. After a second he was running up the stairs with her.
Quatre frowned. "Where are they going?"
Devin's response was short and to the point. "Sex."
Quatre blushed, although he knew for certain that Heero and Duo were probably doing the same thing in their room. He supposed it was one way of checking to make sure that the other person was in one piece, although not the most efficient way. But if it had been Trowa that had been captured, that was probably the way he would have done it, too. "What were they talking about, smell?" he asked to change the subject.
Brian and Devin exchanged a glance. "Nothing."
Quatre frowned. The two of them might be almost as stoic as Heero and Trowa, but he was an expert at reading not-expressions, and they were upset. "What is it?"
"She wants to get the smell of the Oz soldiers off her," Devin explained. "She said the same thing when we rescued her from the Alliance."
"Oz soldiers... " Quatre's mind raced ahead and came to a horrible conclusion. "Oh no!" Beside him, Wufei cursed.
"She'll live," Devin said shortly. "She's survived before and she will again. But it helps her if Andrew is there. Don't tell anyone. Shin and Kane don't know."
"Why not?"
"She doesn't want people to treat her differently because of it."
"Oh."
Devin glanced outside, where Deathscythe was clearly visible. "Someone had better hide that."
Quatre looked at Wufei, each of them debating the fit that Duo would throw when he found out someone had touched Deathscythe with the trouble they'd get if Oz found them. Duo was a little sensitive about anyone touching Deathscythe without his permission ever since Heero used parts from Deathscythe to fix Wing. Quatre reluctantly decided that Oz would be worse. "I'll do it," he said with a sigh. It wasn't like he was going to take it into battle or anything. Duo would understand. He hoped.
Kane carefully arranged himself so that it looked like he was watching a basketball game between a bunch of local kids, but all of his attention was directed on listening to a conversation thirty feet away, between two Oz soldiers. It was well within his hearing range, but it was hard to filter out all the other noise when he was concentrating on his hearing. So all of his concentration was directed into processing the information his mind was receiving -- sorting through the sounds he didn't want so that he could listen in on the one conversation he was interested in. It was a lot harder than it sounded while he was in a public park. There were dozens of conversations going on in that thirty-foot radius, and he was only interested in one.
"There's something big going on up top," one said. Finally! He'd been listening to them discussing their social lives for the past twenty minutes.
"What?"
"I don't know, but his Excellency is trying to keep Romafeller from finding out. At least that's what I've heard."
"Yeah, well if we've heard something about it, you can be sure those stiff-necks have heard about it too."
"Think it has to do with that mess at the Crifton base?"
"Maybe. What was that about?"
"I heard a couple of prisoners escaped, but I figure it's a cover-up."
"Why?"
"Did you see the damage? Six mobile suits totaled? That wasn't just a couple of prisoners escaping."
"Whatever. Hey, did you hear what happened to Louis? He got put off-duty because of a mistake in the scheduling, and on the shift he was supposed to take, there was a Gundam attack! No survivors. Can you believe that shit?"
Kane let his mind drift slightly as the conversation started ranging into uninteresting topics again. Duo and Diana were being held at Crifton base. The soldiers might not believe it, but he could definitely see them blowing up six mobile suits to make their escape. They could have gotten away...
"Duo!"
Kane stiffened slightly and turned to look for whoever was calling Duo's name. He'd changed his hair and skin color to match Duo, and was wearing a pair of sunglasses, figuring that an albino would stand out too much on this world, where the colonists looked just like the Earthlings. So it wasn't surprising that someone would mistake him for Duo. What was surprising was that anyone would know Duo in the first place. Kane had been under the impression that the Gundam pilots were trying to keep a low profile.
"Duo!" the voice shouted again, and Kane identified the speaker. It was a human girl, about his age, with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing some sort of uniform. She looked a little bit like Diana.
"Yeah?" he asked cautiously.
"Duo, I need to speak to Heero, it's very urgent," the girl said.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kane muttered, certain that whoever the girl was, that Heero did not want to talk to her.
"Duo, this is important!" the girl said in what was probably supposed to be a coaxing voice, but came out as a whine.
"I'm sorry, lady, but I don't know any Heero," he told her, wondering who the hell she was and how the hell she knew Heero and Duo.
"Duo!" She actually stomped her foot. It was amusing to watch. "I know you think that you and Heero have... " she trailed off briefly, obviously unable or unwilling to talk about the two boys having sex, but soon recovered. "I know you think that you're his friend... " Friend, is that what they're calling it nowadays? "But you have to understand that Heero loves me!"
With an effort, Kane managed to keep his jaw from dropping. This had to be Relena Dorlian/Peacecraft, or whatever the hell her name was. Duo had spent many hours complaining about her, and even Heero grimaced at the mention of her name. "Relena," he said slowly. "Heero doesn't love you. He loves... me." Duo, he added silently.
"Oh!" she stomped her foot again, and he grinned. This was fun. "You don't understand," she said, speaking slowly, as if talking to an infant. "Heero and I belong together... would you take off those glasses and listen to me!" she grabbed for the glasses, but he dodged easily and grabbed her wrist.
"Don't touch the glasses," he said, sounding deadly serious.
She actually flinched away from him. "Duo, if you truly care for Heero, you'll give him this," she handed him an envelope. "And then let him go."
"Sure. Whatever," he said, taking the envelope. By then the Oz soldiers had moved on, and he was ready to head back. He had a feeling that she wasn't going to leave him alone if he stayed, anyway.
"Please, Duo. It's very important."
"I'll give it to him," he promised. "Now I've got to go."
As he expected, she attempted to follow him, but he lost her easily and then headed back to the safe house. When he got there, the door was opened by... "Diana!" he exclaimed, immediately embracing her. "So you did escape! Is Duo with you?"
"Of course," Duo said from across the room. He was sitting on a couch eating a sandwich, and Heero was sitting next to him with a death grip on his braid. Duo had a very satisfied expression on his face. "How did you know?"
"I was spying on some soldiers in town. You'll never guess who I met."
They all stared at him expectantly. Finally Duo asked, "Well? Who?"
"Diana's double. Relena whatever-the-hell her last name is."
Duo's expression immediately darkened, and Heero pulled him closer, using the braid as a leash. For once Duo didn't object. "What did she say?"
"That Heero was in love with her, and that he wasn't in love with me... meaning you. She thought I was you, for some reason."
"Can't imagine why," Diana remarked dryly, looking at the two of them. Kane had 'borrowed' some clothes out of Duo's wardrobe, because Duo was the closest to his size. Duo's wardrobe consisted of three identical outfits, one of which Duo was wearing. Between the matching clothes and coloring, they were virtually identical, except for the glasses.
"Oh yeah." Kane removed the glasses and let his skin fade back to normal. "Anyway, she wanted me to give you this," he said, tossing the envelope at Heero. Heero caught it and then glared at it, then at Kane. "Hey, it was the only way she'd leave me alone! That girl has got some issues. Why haven't you killed her?"
"She's necessary for peace," Duo explained as Heero unwillingly opened the letter and scanned its contents. After a few seconds he grimaced, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the garbage. "She's a big political player, and people listen to her. Killing her could jeopardize the future of the world."
"Are you sure you want to put the future of the world in her hands?" Kane asked. "She's an idiot."
"She's actually very good at expressing her ideals about peace," Quatre said, coming down the stairs. "She's just... fixated on Heero, for some reason. For months she followed him around asking him to kill her."
Kane raised an eyebrow. "An idiot and suicidal? And you're risking the future on her?"
Quatre shrugged helplessly. "Right now there's no one else."
"You guys are screwed," Kane observed. "So what's going on? How's Trowa?"
"Still sleeping," Quatre said, glancing behind him. "Andrew's found some evidence that suggests the leak came from one of the scientists. Or rather, from one of their labs."
"So what are we going to do about it?" Kane asked, trying not to let the term 'scientists' get to him. The scientists here were the good guys -- sort of.
"We?" Duo asked, and Heero shot him a sharp look.
"You helped us on our world, we might as well return the favor," Kane said with a shrug, hoping he wasn't overstepping his authority. He glanced at Diana, who nodded.
"If you think we can help, just let us know. We do know something about terrorist work. But we have to find Shin, also. And I don't like the idea of leaving that damned machine in Oz's hands."
"We could steal it," Kane suggested.
Suddenly Diana smiled. "How about if we switch it? Ideally they wouldn't even know it was gone." It was obvious that her mind was already at least three steps ahead of their conversation.
"Clarify," Brian said shortly, reminding her that they weren't mind-readers.
"We all got a decent look at it. What if we built a shell to look like it and then switched it? That way we'd have it and they wouldn't even know it. And it might give us an advantage later."
"What sort of advantage?" Quatre asked with a frown.
Diana shook her head slightly. "There are a lot of different things that might happen. But we should do it that way. Kane, how long would it take you to fabricate something like that?"
"Couple of hours, depending on how exact you wanted it," Kane said with a shrug. He looked at Quatre, who looked confused. "You'll have to excuse Diana here. This is the way her mind works -- she's always thinking eight or ten steps ahead, and she doesn't usually take the time to explain it all to us lowly peons. Sometimes I think even she doesn't understand all the complexities of her mind."
"Kane!" Diana snapped.
"Or not," Kane said, holding up his hands in mock surrender.
"When are you going to go after the scientists?" Diana asked Quatre, who blinked.
"A few days, maybe a week... "
"Give us three days to switch the machine and a safe place to store it, and we're at your disposal until we leave. Except that we need to find Shin, too. He's the only one who knows how to perform the calculations we'll need to get back home." She looked at Brian.
"Have we tried looking for him on the net?"
"Yes, but since we have no frame of reference, so... "
"We've got to find some way to find him. Do we have any idea where he is?"
"Well, he was on foot when he got out of the base. Apparently he kicked a hole through the wall -- they haven't figured out how he did that yet," Kane snickered.
"I did the same thing," Diana remarked. "They build their walls thin here. So he was on foot... but he wouldn't have stayed that way for long. He would have gotten clear of the immediate area, but stayed as close as was safe. Do we have a map of the area? He'll stick to urban settings, if he can. How many cities are there in the area around the base?"
Shin glanced around the computer store, then ducked his head as he caught sight of a security camera. Stop acting suspicious, he scolded himself. He relaxed and raised his head slightly, but not enough so that the camera would get a clear shot of his face, and continued his work. Nothing. He left the computer store and started wandering around the streets again.
As soon as he arrived in this city, he'd visited a computer store and set up several e-mail accounts using various versions of his name, on the off-chance that they might check for him that way. He'd also hacked into a bank and made an account for himself, then withdrawn a small amount of money so that he could buy some supplies. Among them was a pair of colored lenses that were currently in his pocket for use in an emergency. Dark glasses hid his eyes easily enough most of the time.
He'd been in several fights with various street-gangs who thought that he looked like a good person to rob. He'd been in a reasonably good mood and was trying not to draw attention, so he hadn't even killed any of them. He'd been keeping clear of anyone wearing a uniform (and there were several types out there), and no one seemed to have noticed him. There were pictures of him out there, but they were all of him as an albino. Since he currently looked like a short-haired version of Wufei, no one gave him a second look.
He'd spent the rest of his time trying to figure out where the others were and learning about the political situation of the world he'd landed on. He was having little luck with the first task -- hopefully the others were still with the Gundam pilots, but that meant that they were hiding themselves. He'd hacked Oz's computer a few times, but they were even more clueless than some civilians out there. He'd hacked into a mail server and found a communication between two individuals, one of whom had remarkably current information on the location of Heero Yuy. He noted that one of the correspondents was Relena Peacecraft/Dorlian, who was supposed to be Diana's double on this world. Was she involved in the fight somehow, like Diana? If so, she was remarkably inept at it. The web was supposed to provide a measure of anonymity, but all of her information was right there. She even used her real name right on the letters discussing information on a known terrorist that they were withholding from the government. Was she trying to get arrested?
A heavy hand landed on his shoulder. "Say, where are you headed, pretty boy?" said a rough male voice.
Shin turned to glare at him, which probably wasn't so effective with dark glasses on. "Let go of me."
"Why? What's your hurry? Gotto go see your boyfriend?"
Shin frowned slightly and removed his glasses. "You have seven seconds to remove your hand before I dislocate your shoulder."
"Whoa, what the hell is wrong with your eyes?"
"Five seconds."
"Hey guys! Come look at this freak!"
"Three seconds."
"Yeah, that's real funny. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with... . AHHHHH!" he screamed. His shoulder made an audible popping sound as it dislocated.
Shin glared at the three boys who came running to help him, and they all backed up a step. He put his glasses back on and continued down the street. What were the people running this world thinking, anyway? While they fought, their society was crumbling underneath them! True, there was the same problem on certain parts of the colonies in his world (universe) but that was due to deliberate action on the part of the Alliance, who wanted a place to stick the malcontents. To allow this to happen to common people was unbelievable and unacceptable, as unacceptable as allowing the Alliance to continue it's actions.
The boy was still screaming -- he could hear it with his enhanced senses. Pitiful. Someone who was that weak shouldn't have attempted to accost him in the first place. He shook his head slightly and continued walking.
"He's been quite violent -- he killed two of our men when we arrested him, and since then he's hospitalized four more," Zechs warned Treize. "I suggest we keep at least two soldiers here with us at all times, with their weapons trained on him."
"I agree. Tell them, and then bring him in."
Treize was sitting at his desk when they brought in the man who so resembled him, and he was glad that he wasn't standing. He'd been told that the man resembled him, not that the man was virtually his double, except for the different clothing and a short haircut. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve black shirt, as different from Treize as possible. His hands were manacled in front of him, and he'd stumbled slightly as one of the guards pushed him across the threshold. He raised his head, saw Treize, and froze.
For several seconds they just stared at each other. Then the other man smiled at him. "So you must be the famous Treize Khushrenada. I've heard so much about you."
"I'm afraid I can't say the same about you," Treize replied as smoothly as he could. There was something that made him dislike the other man on sight, which was ridiculous. Why should he dislike someone just because they looked (a lot) like him? But it wasn't the fact that the other man looked like him that bothered him. It was something in his eyes -- he looked like the members of the Romafeller foundation looked, those weasel eyes, willing to hurt but not willing to risk getting hurt himself.
The man's eyes widened and he actually began to laugh. "You don't know, do you?" he asked. "You have no idea who I am?"
"Should I?" Treize asked.
The man smiled and didn't respond.
"I do know that you are the one that she hates," Treize said, waiting for a reaction. He got it.
The man's eyes narrowed and he took a step forward. "You have her? You captured her?"
"It would help if you specified which 'her' you were talking about."
"Diana Dorlian. The Tiger. She looks like an albino girl about fifteen or sixteen years old. Do you have her?" There was a desperate, almost hungry look in his eyes.
"You also called her Diana Dorlian. Is that really her name?" Treize asked, interested. There was something very vital to understanding the situation that he was missing. Maybe this man could provide that information.
"No. I already gave you your free information. You don't have her anymore, do you? You wouldn't know how to hold her, and she'd never tolerate being held again," the man said with a frown which quickly morphed into a smug smile. It did nothing for his (their) features.
"Again? So you must be the one who held her before. She said that she met pilot 02 while in captivity."
The man's eyes narrowed again, this time in concentration. "We can keep this up all day, but it's not necessary. I'll make a deal with you, Treize. You have resources, I have information, and lots of it. Release me, help me capture her, and I'll make it worth your while."
"You're going to have to do better than that," Treize said. "What sort of information do you have?"
"I know the true identity of the girl and the five boys in her company. I believe they look suspiciously like five people that you know. I know -- or I can guess -- how she escaped. I know what she is. I know who I am, and why I look so much like you. And I know the formula for faster-than-light travel. You don't have that yet, right?" he asked, mocking.
"Neither do you."
"Oh, but I do. Why don't you go ahead? I'll still be in your custody -- just as a guest rather than a prisoner. I'll give you the information all at once, you call in your physicists, and see if I'm telling the truth."
"And what if I take the information and then throw you in jail?"
The man shook his head. "Doesn't work that way. Even after I tell you everything I know about her, you're going to need my help to catch her, because of who and what she is."
Treize had to admit, the man's continual referring to the girl as a 'what' had his attention piqued. He nodded to one of the guards. "Release him." He looked directly at the man. "Understand that I have not countermanded their orders to kill you if you become hostile."
"Understood," he said as the guards removed the manacles. "Well, your Excellency," he said with a mocking bow. "What do you want to know first?" Treize definitely did not like this man. But if he could deliver what he promised, it would be worth it.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm you," the man said with another laugh. After a second he held up his hands, probably aware that he was testing Treize's patience. "I'll explain. I... and the girl, and the five who are with her, are from another world. A parallel dimension, like your own, but different as well. I am who you would have been if you were born in my dimension."
"You are... "
"My name is Adam Velanz. I am a... special operative for the dominant political force in my world. The girl and her accomplices are all leaders of a Rebel movement to remove that government. In my world, we haven't been at war for two hundred years, or however long it has been for you, and in that time we've made a few scientific advances. The most important of these is the invention of the faster than light drive. We have over a dozen colonies spread out over three solar systems, all under control of the Alliance. There is also a very large installation on the moon, but none of these space colonies you have."
"A fascinating theory," Treize said quietly. "Rather unbelievable, too."
"Take a sample of my blood and check it against your own. We should be almost identical genetically."
"I will try that later," Treize said, surprised that he would make such a claim. It was one easily proven wrong, a bad thing to lie about. It made him inclined to believe Velanz's story. "Assuming that all you say is true -- how did you end up here?"
"I don't know. It involves a machine that you built, and one that we built. Somehow your five ended up on my world. One of the scientists working for me told me that one of the experimental machines in storage was responsible. We captured them all -- your five, my five, plus the girl, when they came back to that same machine in order to get back to your world. That is, we thought we captured them, when they activated the machine and we all got sent to your world."
Treize nodded slightly. That would explain how a group (a large group) of people had ended up in the middle of one of his bases with no explanation of how they got there. "You keep saying your five, my five. Who are you referring to?"
"The five boys who traveled through -- I'm assuming that they are fighters of some sort, based on what they did to my people. They look like children. One with a very long braid, one Oriental boy, one with blond hair... there are two others, but I didn't look at them. I think they had brown hair. The blond boy said that they were pilots."
"The Gundam pilots?" Treize asked.
"I don't know. I just know pilot. There are ten of them now, five from your world, five from mine. Except the ones from my world aren't human."
"Excuse me?"
"The five from my world are not human. That's why it was such a shock on my end when five boys who looked very similar to ours showed up who were actually human. On our world, genetic manipulation is a highly refined science. Sixteen years ago, the Alliance started a program to create genetically engineered weapons. They would look human, but have strength, reaction time, and intelligence far beyond any human. They built ten weapons -- five male, five female. Only one of the females survived, but all five males did. Those are my five. Their minds function as portable computers, they are incredibly strong and fast, they're immune to any disease known in my world, and will heal from any wound that isn't mortal, often in a matter of hours or days."
"You said the Alliance created them," Treize observed.
"Yes, we intended to use them for assassinations and as strategic planners."
"That wasn't what I meant. You said they were members of a Rebel movement. How did they end up there?"
"A miscalculation. The lone female was accidentally adopted by a civilian and raised as human. She -- it -- isn't human, but it was raised as one, and taught morals. She recruited our five and brought them to join the rebels. Have you figured out who the female is yet?" he asked with another smirk. Treize remained silent. "None other than Diana Dorlian, the adopted daughter of the ambassador to Alpha colony."
"The girl?"
"How do you think she escaped? I don't know any details, but if I were her, on one of your bases, I'd just plow through the walls."
Zechs made a disbelieving sound. "You're trying to tell us that a sixteen-year-old girl managed to tear through the walls with her bare hands?"
"Your walls are rather thin here. The room we had her in had walls at least three feet thick, reinforced with steel, and she was both handcuffed -- using special handcuffs - and chained at the ankles the whole time. Besides, you miss the point. She isn't a sixteen-year-old girl. It is a genetically engineered weapon, a killing machine. It has been leading the Rebels for over four years now. If I can catch it and take it back with me, the Alliance will be able to crush the Rebels."
"I see," Treize said coldly, noting how he kept referring to her as 'it'. "You've given me much to think about." He nodded to the guards. "These men will take you to a suitable room."
"Thank you very much," Velanz said with a bow, only slightly less mocking. "I am at your disposal if you want any more information about how the Tiger operates."
"The Tiger?" Zechs repeated.
"The female's other name, the one she uses to lead the Rebels," he said as he was led away.
"Remind me to get that blood test," Treize murmured.
"Yes sir."
"What do you think of him?"
"Sir?"
"Your honest opinion of him."
"I can see why the girl dislikes him."
"She hates him."
"Yes sir."
"I don't like him either, but he could be useful." Treize paused, staring out his window. "Interesting... she told us the truth. It was a truth so unbelievable that she knew we would dismiss it out of hand, but she did tell the truth." He turned to Zechs. "Make sure we have someone watching that man all the time. I want his every action reported."
"Yes sir."
"Finding the girl is still a priority. We need to get to her before Romafeller." Treize paused thoughtfully. "Although if she's as deadly as they say, maybe we ought to turn her loose on Romafeller."
End Part 8
(:./marika/others8)
