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"Alternative Directions: Options "Written By: Karina Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the lovely
boys and their girls in the series. Wish I did. Please don't sue me.
I haven't even got a brass razoo to give you. Rating: Deffinately PG in Australia, at the moment,
but probably safer to say R for later chapters. Not sure about international
ratings Warnings: It will be 6x2, even though it does
not start out that way. After all, Zechs and Duo never met in Gundam
Wing and only spoke briefly over a com line in Endless Waltz. I've
tried to keep them in character as I saw them in the series. A bit
of language creeping in under stressful conditions. Pairings: eventual 6x2, past 2xH, 2+H,6x9, 1+R
Summary: Directions is set post Endless Waltz
and roughly 2 years have passed. Zechs and Noin are on Mars and Duo,
after spending some time with Hilde in a relationship leaves L2 to
join Preventers. Hilde was not happy about his decision. I guess enough
said. Here t'is, and I hope you like it. This is also AU for the standard
setting, as well as the series and Endless Waltz. Spoilers: Gundam Wing Series and Endless Waltz Many thanks to Dulin for volunteering to beta this. //... // thoughts
"Alternative Directions: Options"
Chapter 121 Mars Colony Base Dome 2nd March AC 198 Time: 01: 10 [approx Sanc time 23:00] Barker // Just one short run and we will be one stage closer to being in the safety of the dome. The question is, what will be waiting for us once we make it through those doors? Just how safe will we be in there? // He felt hot and uncomfortable within the restrictions imposed on him by the suit and in no uncertain words he was afraid. It was no weakness on his part to admit his fear of the possible consequences of failure. There was too much at stake for everyone for them to fail now. Those people outside of the dome, while safe for the moment, were relying on them to get the dome open and to do that he had to bring about a safe conclusion to the stand off occurring within the colony. Constantly having to work in the enviro suits was becoming more than a nuisance. They were all used to wearing the suits for extended periods of time but they did not usually wear them for the type of exertions they now needed to perform. Running around the planet and within the enviro dome playing an elaborate game of hide and seek was not the use for which the suits were originally designed. One of the biggest faults of the suits for this type of activity was that they were not cooled sufficiently for the amount of physical exertion and sheer speed they required to perform. Fear of discovery and the deadly consequences of that just made their sweating worse. The suits could only handle so much and while he could not really say anything about how the other two men were handing the stress he could say without a doubt that he himself perspired a great deal when his life and the lives of others was on the line. He was never comfortable working in sopping wet clothes. // The dome just seems to be too quiet. I know that the suits insulate us from a certain level of noise but its just plain eerie looking at this and hearing nothing but my own breathing. There should be at least one or two people standing around, leaning on buildings or machinery chatting about nothing in particular. It's deserted. It feels … dead.// The last was a mental whisper. He did not want to acknowledge the possibility that he might indeed be standing in a grave. A tomb. That was what worried him the most about the silence. It was reminiscent of a ghost town. Empty. Inhabited by the ghosts of the people he knew and liked and by those less liked but who had been a part of his world. The feel of the dome was oppressive, weighing on him with unnatural gravity. It was a psychological response, he was sure of that but he could not dismiss the impression that he walked through a place that now belonged to the dead and had no time or acceptance for the living. //Not that we have actually encountered any bodies, as yet, but how much longer can that last? Have we been played for fools? Is it possible that Merquise is playing a game? God! I so want to scratch my bloody nose!// The inability to so much as wipe the sweat from his brow and to rub an itch in the simplest of places was aggravating in the extreme. Nor was crouching behind a grouping of crates and abandoned vehicles in the middle of the dome's most open area going to answer the questions he wanted answered. He needed answers and he was not going to get them crouching here. The two men in his company were waiting for him to give them the word to go ahead and make that dash to the hydroponics dome. They had placed their trust in him as leader and he could not let them down so he had to ignore his insecurities and the little annoyances and get on with the task at hand. Beads of perspiration ran in runnels down his face, some running down the bridge of his nose to accumulate and itch before dripping from the end of his nose as he tried to see more than the limited view his helmet permitted him. Anyone could be lurking out in the open with the restriction his helmet placed on what he could see, but he dared not remove it. It was useless, he knew that to keep trying to see everything, but he was reluctant to expose them to needless risk and for that matter delaying the inevitable itself was a risk. Enough was enough. With a small huff of breath he reached to touch Polnar's shoulder and motioned him off toward the crates stacked near the domes open doors. The one thing he did know for certain was that prevaricating was going to serve no useful purpose and if he was fortunate they might still make the sub base without too large a delay to their agreed upon schedule. Merquise was a professional and he would know only too well that there might be problems arising that would require time to deal with. It simply was something beyond his control and he would make the best time possible. He watched Polnar make the run for a moment, counting to five before he tapped Carter to send him sprinting next and Barker angled himself as best he could to cover their run, weapon drawn and watching as much of the dome as possible. Silently he counted as the seconds ticked by and waited for the half expected and feared bark of an automatic weapon or some other sign that their presence had been noted and that they would need to have to fight for every inch of ground they could cover. If they could do this quietly without anyone the wiser for their presence then that was to their advantage but he was too much the professional to think that it was going to be easy to avoid anyone and everyone who should be in the dome. //It's damned annoying when you don't know who you can trust. Anyone we run into could be an agent, but they could just as easily be a survivor and there has to be more survivors than agents. How do you know which is which? Who can you trust?// The uncertainty of knowing how to determine who was friend and who was foe troubled him but he had no time now to consider the dilemma. He forced those fears down beneath the necessity for action and sucking in a huge breath he set himself into motion. He could not delay while he considered possibilities that he could not possibly resolve at this time and in so doing place those men in danger through his distraction and inaction. Polnar was already almost at the cluster of crates they had chosen as their next cover and Carter was not too far behind him. He was surprised that Polnar seemed so much faster than Carter but then it might be that the man was more afraid than his pursuer and that fear lent his feet wings. Certainly he could not dismiss the idea that there were hostile eyes peering at them from the blank windows of the control towers and that at any second he would feel the blinding pain of a bullet between his shoulder blades. He had been hit by a Sniper's bullet once before and it was an experience he was not keen on repeating. // Who the fuck tied lead weights to my feet when I was not looking? I can run faster than this! // He wanted desperately to wipe the sweat from his eyes and to lift his knees higher to strengthen each stride but the constraints of the enviro suit defeated him. He wanted out of this straight jacket he was forced to move within and the thought of how the maintenance teams who spent hours out in the hostile Martian atmosphere dealt with these problems briefly flitted in his awareness. All power to them for greater fortitude and patience than he could claim. How could they put in twelve to sixteen hour days, day after day of hard manual back breaking work and not have the need to scratch an itch? How could they put in an exhausting days labor and not sweat more than the suits could process? He was soaking wet with perspiration, tired and dirty. He could not avoid thinking that the revolting sludge from the recycling pipes still clung to him and somehow had seeped into the suit, covering him in stinking filth. He knew that the smell that pervaded the suit was his own stale sweat but he could too easily imagine it to be so much more. He felt three sizes too large. Larger, heavier and more clumsy than he ever had been. So clumsy in fact that he could not dismiss the notion that he was going to fail in acting decisively if the situation demanded they revert to physical exertions that required combat. Perhaps the most annoying aspect was the lack of vision. He hated having so little in the way of peripheral vision and could not dismiss the idea that he was half blind in the helmet and that he would remain so unless he could get the cumbersome thing off in the next two seconds. Lungs heaving to pump air into his system he dug deeper for some much needed speed and those crates just would not come any closer. Was he making no head way at all? Polnar and Carter had long ago reached the crates and he felt he was on a conveyor belt perpetually taking him back two steps for every step he lunged closer. Growling, calling himself a fool for allowing illusion and stress to affect him he closed his eyes for two long strides and opened them, confident that that would destroy the illusion that he was still half the field away from safety. Barker shuddered as he threw himself around the first of the crates and practically fell into the cavity where Carter and Polnar crouched, waiting for him. He noted that both appeared to be breathing hard and felt a little more confident that he was not the only one dragging air into his starved lungs. A few breaths to settle himself down and he permitted himself the time to peer around the dome, seeking any sign of activity to suggest that they had been watched and that they were now hunted as well as hunter. He lifted a hand automatically to wipe the sweat from his eyes and touched nothing but the face plate and growled with frustration forced to shake his head within the helmet to fling the sweat from his eyes. He felt exposed and from the way the two helmets near him were turning around and peering out of the cluster of crates he was not the only one with the hunted reflex. He counted to sixty but the dome remained silent around them and no one moved beyond their tight little cluster of crates. //This silence just is not natural. Can not be natural. Is there anyone alive up here?// The bulk of the hydroponics dome loomed at their backs, the main doors still open to the enviro dome suggesting that the air had not deteriorated to the point that the oxygen generating dome was threatened. That was good, a sign that the toxicity levels in the air might not be so high as they feared. At any time however the automated computer systems could initiate to seal off the enviro dome and activate the sealed unit buildings as emergency shelters until the threat of corrupted environmental systems was repaired. Before the air reached that stage they needed to be within the questionable security of the hydroponics dome and before they entered he wanted to scout out the entrance and check for traps or snipers who might be lying in wait. The question remained however. Just how much time did he dare to take to scout and plan their next move? If the dome should be sealed they would be locked out of their only safe means of gaining access to the sub base. //Fast as possible. From the readings I saw we do not have long. // His heartbeat now easing to a more normal rhythm and rate and his breathing steadied so that he thought he might be able to talk legibly he reached to tap both men smartly on their shoulders. When bodies inclined so that they might angle their helmets to watch him he motioned them to press their helmets together. It was time to plan out their next move. WARNING. CONTAMINATION ALERT. WARNING. CONTAMINATION ALERT. EMERGENCY COMPUTER CONTROL WILL SEAL ALL DOME SECTIONS IN SIXTY SECONDS DUE TO CONTAMINATION OF THE DOMES OXYGEN RECYCLING SYSTEM. ALL PERSONS ARE ADVISED THAT ENVIRONMENTAL SUITS WILL BE REQUIRED BEYOND SEALED SECTIONS OF THE DOME. REPEAT. CONTAMINATION OF AIR SUPPLY HAS BEEN DETECTED. COMPUTER CONTROL WILL SEAL ALL SECTIONS OF THE DOME IN SIXTY SECONDS. MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE NEAREST SECURE SECTION WITH ALL SPEED. DO NOT PANIC. ACTIVITY BEYOND SEALED SECTIONS OF THE DOME WILL REQUIRE THE USE OF ENVIRO SUITS. //Damn! Shit timing, of course .// Barker glared up into the heights of the enviro dome and bared his teeth in a snarl. So much for taking the time to scout the dome before they committed themselves to entering through the main door. There was no other options and no chance of securing their entry point. “Instructions?” Carter queried. “It's not how I would prefer to do this but …” // Polnar is the fastest of us. He'll probably have the best chance of getting in. // “Polnar, take the far side of the entrance, go in fast and hard and go around the dome wall into the vegetation. Don't pause to think or hang around, just get in fast and make yourself secure. We have no idea who will be in the dome. Carter, you and I go in fast and hard on this side, angling close to the wall and head straight for the vegetation. Get yourself into as safe a position as you can and see if we flush unwanted company. If no bushes twitch we meet up and find the way down. There is no time to be fancy about this. Go!” He only hoped that he had not made Polnar a target. The Leo pilot was fast, faster on his feet than Carter or himself and that was why he sent the man to the far side of the doors. His speed, even in the hampering suits would get him into the dome and maybe past a sniper who might not be expecting company to come in on the run. The man did not hesitate over the instruction but vanished out of Barkers line of sight and Carter was moving too, slipping through the crates and running for the airlock doors. Polnar was drawing away from them he saw as he came clear of the crates and he knew that the man was likely to make it into the dome the way he was covering the distance. He looked to be almost halfway to the door before he and Carter had covered a quarter of the distance required. There was a clock ticking the seconds away in his head inexorably, reminding him with each resolute tick tock, each reach of his legs, each pump of his arms, that they had limited time. It was not so bad as it seemed, he knew. Both he and Carter were capable of making that distance in around forty seconds but if either of them should stumble and fall … It did not bear thinking about. Had he not been wearing the bulky enviro suit he would have thrown himself forward and into a tumble as he came abreast of the airlock doors. To do so would have made himself as small and fast moving a target as possible. Enviro suits were never crafted for anything remotely resembling gymnastics which would have aided him immensely just now and besides, he knew of no one who was good enough to perform gymnastics in the suits. Certainly not himself and not Carter. The nearest they could come to tumbling through the doors was to effect a low crouch and still keep their balance and maintain their pace to the best of the suits restrictions. Their one blessing was that if nothing else they did not have to fight the heavy gravity of Earth in their bid to get within the hydroponics dome. That was the only good point he could think of at this time though the lighter gravity itself presented its own problems with coordination and control. Polnar was through the outer doors of the airlock he noted as he angled his body and managed his first view of the foliage beyond the inner airlock doors that would place the final seal on the dome. He scanned the foliage even as he caught up with Carter and ran on his heels into the small chamber. On the far side of the double doors he could see that Polnar was already through the lock and sprinting for the undergrowth growing close to the wall of the dome. How the man could move so freely in the restricting suit was astonishing but he was precious seconds ahead of them and then he was gone, vanished into the foliage. //At least he's safe. I just hope that I can trust him to complete the mission if we go down. There is something odd about that one. Something I need to check out. // ALERT. SEALING OF DOME SECTIONS NOW COMMENCING. ALERT. ALL SURVIVAL SECTIONS ARE NOW ON COMPUTER CONTROL. Barker grunted as he threw himself past the main doors and cursed as he stumbled, his feet going out from under him, hands automatically extended to catch himself from slamming face first into the steel of the airlock floor. He did not hit the floor, instead he felt Carter's hand close around his arm, offering him support and steadying him even as he was dragged past the inner doors of the small airlock. Scrabbling to regain his footing he flashed the man a grateful look and then his feet were under him and they were running for the foliage. Dimly he was aware of hearing the outer doors clang shut and he knew that the inner doors were even now swinging closed and that the instant they sealed the lock out would be engaged. They would effectively be sealed within the hydroponics dome until the all clear was given. Unless Merquise was right and there was a way down into the sub base within this dome. He had no idea if there was a sniper waiting. He had no idea if their footsteps were dogged with gun fire. His heartbeat pounded in his ears too loud for him to hear anything over it beyond his gasping breaths. With Carter's hand locked around his forearm they threw themselves into the foliage pressed against the dome wall and scrambled deeper, looking for a place to rest and regain their breath. //Anyone who saw Polnar come tearing through that lock would have had time to get a weapon up and aimed at the lock. Maybe not to target Polnar the way he was moving but they would have had the time to target us. I'm still alive and I don't hurt any more than I did before and Carter does not seem to be injured. Guess we made it.// Panting he crouched beneath the large fronds of a tropical fern, hearing nothing beyond the hammering of his heart and his own ragged breaths but that was easing and his world was no longer so restricted to the ground in front of him and a target goal to reach. He could feel Carter beside him, equally out of breath and taking the respite to regain some control over his body. With a low snarl he shook his head violently to shake the sweat from his eyes and peered about him, seeing only the many green shades of the faux rainforest. They were crouched with their backs pressed hard against the dome wall behind a clump of thickly growing ferns and while it offered them shelter and some security it permitted them to see very little beyond variegated green shades. //Fuck it! I have had this helmet. I have to get it off! // ALL SURVIVAL STATIONS IN THE UPPER DOME HAVE BEEN SECURED. ALL SECTIONS WILL BE NOTIFIED WHEN THE CONTAMINATION TO THE OXYGEN GENERATION SYSTEMS ARE CLEARED. A WARNING IS AGAIN ISSEUD THAT ENVIRONMENTAL SUITS ARE REQUIRED TO BE USED BEYOND THE SURVIVAL SECTIONS. TEAM LEADERS AND SUPERVISORS MUST BE CONSULTED BEFORE THE SURVIVAL UNITS INTEGRITY MAY BE BREECHED. //Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. Shut up, you moronic piece of hardware. I have other concerns. At least in here we can get these damn suits off and I can't say how happy I am for that mercy.// Barker touched Carter lightly on the arm and reached for the lock on his own helmet, giving tactic permission to remove the cumbersome helmets. Sensation flooded his awareness. The first breath of the air from the dome seemed almost ice cold after the stifling heat of the suit. Cool air flooded over his face and neck and no air could possibly be as sweet after the rank stench of his own sweat. The earthy odour of the carefully cultivated soil and the scent of growing things was sheer heaven to him and with a low moan of delight he sucked in a second and third lung full of cool air. He luxuriated in running his gloved hands over his face over and over again and indulged in a long and luxurious bout of rubbing at his annoyingly itchy skin. It was not enough and he tore at his gloves to free his hands and scratched at the sweat that matted his hair. “God. What a relief.” Carters whisper, more a moan of simple unadulterated pleasure from beside him drew only a satisfied and understanding grunt from Barker. Without a word being exchanged they began working on the seals of each other's enviro suits, wanting to shed every layer of the cumbersome material as quickly as possible. He knew that they were pushed for time and that they might be discovered at any second but he could rationalize the time spent in removing the suits with the truth that in this dense foliage the safety orange colouring of the suits was a dead giveaway of their position. They needed to shed the suits to better blend in with the foliage and they would need the freedom of movement shedding the suits would provide to move a quietly as possible as they made their search of the dome. Carter stood carefully, crouched but with enough height to wiggle the suit down his body as the last of the seals were released and took up guard position allowing Barker to stand in his turn in the tight space and free himself from the suit's possession. They were careful to keep watch on as much of the dome as they could see through the foliage though that permitted them a view of only a few meters in any given direction. Barker sucked in another deep lung full of the scented air and listened for any hint of movement. Polnar would be moving around and possible hunters intent on killing them. Perhaps trapped terra formers as well but the dome seemed uncommonly quiet accept for the music of running water coming from somewhere deeper in the dome. He could hear the rustle of foliage but that was due to Carter gathering up the various parts of his enviro suit. “Can you see any sign of Polnar?” Barker whispered, freeing his legs from the boots and quickly adjusting his pants for comfort and then gathering up the parts of his suit and bundling them together as best he could up before stashing it behind the palm fronds. “No sight, no sound. No gun shots or anything that might be considered suspicious in here. If we have a hunter in here with us then he's hunting silent.” The grunt of acknowledgement was quiet as he wriggled his way out of the nest they had made and after a quick look around he slipped into another thicket, away from what seemed like the neon orange of the suits that would surely be spotted no matter how well they might manage to hide them. While he knew that someone would have to be actively searching to spot that tell tale flicker of orange through the undergrowth the way his day had been going thus far he was of the opinion that it was a foregone conclusion that they would be discovered. He wanted to put as much distance as possible between himself and the suits. They needed to quickly lose themselves in the dome. Carter gave the suits one last punch and tried to convince a frond to drape over the last of the glimmer of colour and with a dissatisfied grunt he abandoned the position, quietly joining Barker in his new vantage point. “We angle toward the centre of the dome and look for this maintenance shaft Polnar mentioned. On the way we keep a look out for Polnar. Do you know where this maintenance shaft is likely to be?” “I worked exclusively outside of the dome and pretty much within the Taurus, at first moving the heavy equipment down to the Alpha and then Beta site or escort duty for the exploration expeditions. I did very little work within the enviro dome.” Carter shook his head, shrugging slightly in apology. “I know we were to cultivate a number of versatile skills to be of use as much as possible wherever we might be needed, but all of my work was pretty much outside, which does nothing to help us now.” //No, it is of no aid to us in this situation, but Polnar seemed to think it would be near the reservoir. From what little I know of the design of these hydroponics domes that would have to place it somewhere near the centre of the dome. I can't say that at any time my work brought me into much contact with the workings of the dome, more with the people than with any real need to explore the domes' many wonders. An error on my part not to check out the various sections in more detail. I do know that there is a sizable body of water near the centre of the dome. You can see a pebble bed through the water though but I suppose they might have rigged up a false bed for purely aesthetic purposes. It is a place to start looking at least. I wonder if we have to go swimming to reach this pipe? No. No, I am sure that he said the pipe would have to be drained for us to use it. That we would not be able to handle the pressures involved with a dive of that depth. Well, I suppose that if we do need to swim at some stage of the game it would make us smell a bit sweeter. We are particularly rank after wearing those suits and no doubt anyone hunting us would smell us coming. Another reason not to have to swim would be hygiene. This stench suggests any water we polluted would need to be processed again before it is filtered into the drinking water. Guessing is not going to get us down into the sub base but for now we make our way deeper into the dome. We need to find Polnar. He knows more about the layout and workings of this place than I do.// “Quick as we can, as quietly as we can. We need to find Polnar but we can get a general idea of the lay of the land while we look for him.”
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