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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 7 Advertisement from the ESUN advertising campaign promoting the Mars Colony soon to be opened for general settlement. “Ever wanted to go to far away and exotic places? How much more far away and exotic can you get than Mars? Are you a professional, forward thinking individual who thirsts for a challenge? Have we got the ideal place for you! Escape from the hum drum and same old same old. Get variety and some spice in your life. The Mars Colony could be the challenge you’re looking for. Mars could be looking for YOU. Contact the Mars Colonial Development Agency. We are taking applications today for the citizens of tomorrow.” -------------------------------------- Mars Colony Base One Date: 22nd Feb AC 198 Time: 18:37 [Martian Standard Time] Noin “The breakdown in the third hydroponics unit has been repaired. No substantial loss of production resulted from its failure. The charts register no appreciable loss in the atmosphere, so air generation was not affected. We were lucky this time.” “What caused it?” “Faulty unit. We really need to get some updated equipment. That man of yours is something else, Lucrezia. He seems to be able to make something out of nothing half the time. Has a talent for converting old equipment into usable components.” Lucrezia Noin grinned. “Zechs was always talented, Mako . He has an inventive streak in him. We will requisition parts for the hydroponics units. Get them sent out as soon as possible.” Her Zechs had always been under appreciated in her view. She did admit, and freely so, that she was prejudiced. He was now doing something that meant a great deal to him. He was not killing. He was not expected to kill. He had seen too much killing, too much destruction. Too much war. Some days she despaired that he would ever learn to go beyond the memories of the war. “Requisition again, you mean. There have been assurances on those parts being delivered and the last two shuttles have not had them. They are vital to our survival. Do they think people can breathe the air outside the dome? I’d like to see them try. I don’t know how long we can keep jury rigging some of those components.” “We are due a supply shuttle in the next week. Hopefully some usable parts for more than just the hydroponics generators will be in the shipment. If they don’t get the parts right this time I’ll skip the official channels and get the parts from other sources.” Noin grinned at his look and winked. “Yes, I have other sources and yes, you do not want to know about them. Enough said. I believe we will be getting a population boost off this shuttle, too.” “Yeah. Like we really need it.” Joe Mako shook his head in disgust. He was a short dark haired man of Japanese descent, but born and bred for three generations on L1. A skilled engineer he had been eager to start the work to found a planet bound colony on Mars and had not regretted his decision, despite the times he groaned about bureaucracy on Earth and the Colonies holding back the project. As Project Chief and head engineer of the team he was only too well aware of the needs of the colony. At this time they were at a critical point of development. He personally thought they needed another three month window before bringing in the specialists to primp the Alpha Dome for the colonists. Noin grinned. “We are supposed to have the Alpha Dome ready for occupancy in six months, Mako. Stands to reason they would send a shuttle load of workers and security personal up soon. We get the basics up and running and they send the luxury specialists to take the glory for turning bare basics into a sparkling tourist attraction.” “We can well do without the luxuries, Lu. This is to be a working colony, not some holiday resort for the rich and famous. We need another three months, minimum, before they start increasing our population. Not that politicians and pen pushers ever listened to reason. We are almost ready for the next phase, but not quite there by my books.” “Can’t stay the same forever, Mako. Doesn’t work that way.” Mako moved to the view port and stared out at the panorama. Martian red. Unique shades of red from a distance he had found only here. The yellows and browns of the Martian desert blended into a curious redness that was unique to this desolate place. Low on the horizon Phobos hung in the pink sky. Unless you had lived here as long as the Terra Forming Team, you would not be likely to mark that vague blur in the darkening pink as the moon. A deepening sky. Soon the brilliant stars of the Martian night would give the stark desolation of the landscape a softened beauty. It was a pretty world, in a spartan way. Someone who had lived in a desert environment would appreciate the beauty of Mars, he mused. The working dome looked down on the wide expanse of the canyon floor. Alpha Dome glinted in the last of the sunlight. The newest dome, almost complete. Space for ten thousand people to work and play. Which would not now be long. The hydroponics fields in the Alpha Dome were in full production, providing air for the Alpha Dome and food to supplement the diet of the two thousand and sixteen people currently working on the colony at this base dome they called home. Soon enough it would need to feed the additional colonists expected to come here. The Beta Dome would be started when the Alpha was ready for colonization. Not so long now. The expected shuttle from Earth would contain not only supply parts, but also workers to complete the cosmetic work on the buildings in the Alpha Dome. It also would contain a number of Mining experts and crews of miners to begin the mining operations. Once they could produce their own metals the greater need to import materials from the Earth Sphere would ease. The shuttle also contained more security members than he thought necessary for their fledgling state. “They’re sending security to keep him separated from the new workers, aren’t they?” “Most likely.” Noin returned without hesitation. “No doubt they all have been extensively screened but there may be some amongst them who will react to Zechs. In a variety of ways.” Mako frowned. Him. The Terror of Earth. The prisoner of Mars. Expansion way back in history was often carried out from the need to find a new place to contain prisoners. He had never expected for Mars to be considered in that light. A Penal colony. That is what the ESUN government had made of the Mars Colony project. Even one prisoner was too many in his view. His dark eyes dropped to the carry baskets set on the floor beside Noin’s seat at the consol. The twins slept, platinum blonde angels tucked securely under pale covers. Four babies now on a colony not slated to have a breeding population for another three years at least. Four babies and another two pregnancies not so far from coming to term. They were lucky not to have lost any of the children or mothers to the conditions they now lived under. No one was certain what conditions on Mars would do to the human body, or what effects it would have on pregnant women or the children they carried. So far they had a good success rate. He knew it could not be relied on to continue indefinitely. No one knew if the children would live long or what, if any, bacteria or infections native to Mars could have on the innocents. Parents needed to nurture their children and love them while they could. “Go home, Noin. Its almost shift change now. I’ll take the last half hour.” Noin shook her head. “That’s okay, Mako . Zechs won’t be back from the work shop for another hour yet anyway.” “Does Her Bitchiness know about the twins, Lu?” Lucrezia Noin winced at the tone of his voice. Not that she blamed him. Mako had had more than one run in over the vid com with Relena Peacecraft’s office. There was no love lost between the Project chief of the Mars Colony and the Vice Foreign Minister or her staff. Mako came from a large family who were close and lived in each others pockets before he had come to Mars. He had strict family values and a definite dislike for the Vice Foreign Minister who refused even to speak with her brother. “I never mentioned them through the pregnancy or at the last contact we had.” Noin sighed. “I suppose it’s possible she knows, but I would hope no one saw fit to tell her.” “She has fingers in too many pockets, that one. All politicians do.” Mako hesitated, but she needed to know. It had happened too often to be ignored. “We tracked another signal from outside the base, aimed at the L4 cluster.” Noin sighed, looking sorrowfully at her children. “Then if she doesn’t know yet, she will soon enough. Still no idea who it is?” “No. Can’t break the coding, either.” He hesitated. She was stubborn, this ex soldier and likely would jump down his throat for suggesting this but... "Zechs probably –" “No.” Noin stiffened. “Leave him out of it Mako. Just let him be. He’s been hurt enough by his sister and those bastards back on Earth. Keep him out of this.” “He’s not a fool, Lu. He knows she keeps her eye on what he does here. Her and others.” He wanted to talk frankly to her, but he was very much afraid that Zechs was right in his reading of Lucrezia Noin. Some days that man frightened him and he was not afraid to admit it. “I know that. He hasn’t seen fit to comment, so leave it alone. For now, at least.” The engineer rumbled his disgust of that and her obstinacy. Blindness, he privately considered it. He leaned over the carry baskets to lightly caress Katerina’s cheek. “Have you given consideration to their future? Do they stay on Mars?” Noin snorted, amused. “Really, Mako. There will be every comfort a colony can have here in a few years. That includes schools, universities and hospitals . It will also include dance clubs, parks, and cafés. What more could the twins want? What more can they be given elsewhere? So it’s a bit rough on Mars now. It won’t be forever. Besides, truth is I don’t trust Relena and the ESUN government not to make them pay for Zechs past indiscretions.” Well, he could admit she had a valid fear there. He had no trust in them either, though not for the same reasons as she. “I’ll have to see about arranging a proper crèche shortly. You see the Doc today?” “Yes. The twins and I are fine, Mako. No complications. I’ll be cleared for normal duties in a week.” t.b.c.
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