Finally Family Ties Ficcage!!!
Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. Muse has returned and with each day I'm finding it a little easier to write this again. More chapters will follow soon. Thanks for your patience.
Enjoy...
“Family Ties.”
January 2007 ShenLong
Chapter 63
The small shuttle began a series of brief burns, Duo immediately looked out of the window and scanned around. He spotted the satellite they were coming in to dock with and sat back again.
“What's happening?” Duric asked.
“We're docking,” replied Duo.
Both men tensed slightly as the shuttle carried out its maneuvers before a series of thumps and then a shudder before all fell silent.
“I think we've arrived,” Duo muttered. Moments later his words were confirmed.
“Move it you two,” said Matthews, his gun trained on the pair.
Complying with the order, the two released their belts and stood, walking through the shuttle to the door and exiting into a large hanger area. Duo gazed around, noting there was another shuttle present, its cargo doors open and items being offloaded. A poke to his back soon had him moving again.
The group traversed a few corridors before coming to a stop outside a set of sealed doors. Zaheer pressed his palm to the small scanner and the doors opened. They moved along another corridor, stopping outside another set of doors which Zaheer opened.
“Your quarters,” the big man said.
Duo and Duric were pushed inside. “There are a few changes of clothing and bathroom facilities. I suggest you use them.”
“Do we get fed?” Duric asked. It had been a while since they had last eaten and right now his stomach was just about ready to start eating itself.
“Later,” replied Zaheer and then closed the doors.
Duo took a look around. It was a typical bunk room, very similar to what he'd lived in on the Peacemillion. The only difference being this would be more of a cell than a bunk room. “I'm gonna shower,” he told Duric and moved to the small closet to see what it held in the way of clothes. Picking out a shirt and pants that looked like they would fit, Duo moved into the small bathroom and closed the door.
Duric selected some clothes for himself before sitting on one of the bunks and waiting for Duo to finish.
* * *
Kirby double checked the discs, confirming he had all the shots of Agent Night before sending them through to Preventer HQ on earth. With there being nothing more he could do in relation to the discs he informed the head of the L2 branch what he'd done.
With the disc information being relayed back to earth, two agents were sent out to pick up Harold, the guy from the shuttle port and bring him in to answer some questions.
* * *
Une arrived at work feeling like she'd been sleeping on a plank of wood and not her firm mattress. She ached from head to toe and had done her best to hide the dark circles under her eyes with liberal applications of concealer. It hadn't really worked.
“Commander? You look like shit, if you'll excuse the language,” Felicity said as Une walked into her office. The secretary handed over a hot coffee which Une greedily took. “Have you been getting any sleep?”
“Felicity, I feel like shit, and no, I'm not getting any decent sleep and I won't until these latest cases are solved.”
“Ah, you have my full sympathy. Ever thought of seeing Doctor Po and getting something to help you sleep?”
The look on Une's face told the secretary all she needed to know.
“Okay, maybe not then.”
Une carried her coffee through to her office and started up her computer. Whilst she waited for the computer to run through its start up sequence, she checked the mail and paperwork on her desk, sorting it out into order of priority. The computer 'pinged' to let her know it was all set for the day's work and as Une finished the last sip of her coffee, her intercom buzzed. “Yes, Felicity?”
“Commander, I have Captain Johnston on the line from the L2 branch.”
“Thank you, Felicity, put the call through, please.” Pushing the button to close the intercom, Une picked up the 'phone which had started to flash. “Captain Johnston?”
“Commander Une. I called to let you know that Kirby has finished analyzing the security disc footage you requested and the parts pertaining to your investigation have been sent through. You should be in receipt of them somewhere in the next half an hour.”
“Thank you, Johnston.”
“I've also sent two agents out to bring in that guy from the shuttle port who called us with the information to get a full statement from him. Is there anything in particular you wished us to ask him?”
Une went through the usual procedure for interviewing a witness and added a couple of questions she wanted answers to before thanking the Captain and cutting the call. Hanging up the phone, she let her head fall into her hands and exhaled loudly, blowing her bangs from her face.
It was going to be one hell of a day and it hadn't even started yet.
Picking up her coffee cup, Une took a long swallow, feeling the liquid burn down her throat and warm her stomach. Replacing the cup on its coaster, she picked up the phone again and pushed the number for the communications section.
* * *
Duo had finished his shower and lay back on his bunk. Duric stepped out after taking his shower and tossed his soiled clothes into the corner where Duo had placed his. Glancing at the long haired man, Duric climbed onto the upper bunk and got comfortable.
The silence lasted all of two minutes.
“This Firecell thing. You have any idea how this idiot proposes to put it into action? And what he hopes to gain from it?” Duric asked. “And whilst we're on the topic of this idiot, where the hell do you know him from?”
Duo thought for a moment, eyes scanning over the small 'cabin'. He'd checked it out earlier for any form of bug and hadn't found anything. That didn't mean there wasn't anything there though. To be completely sure he'd need to scan the entire area with a nifty gadget that Preventer had invented to detect pretty much anything in the 'bug' line.
Choosing his words carefully, Duo began to speak. “I don't really know all that much about it. Like I said before, it's all been pure speculation; no one had gone far enough with the idea to actually write a program that would bring it into effect.”
“But now they have, or so they say.”
“If they have managed to write a program then I'd say we're pretty much screwed.” Duo took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Like I said before, a Firecell would in effect, take control over the entire network of computers, earth side, colony side, it wouldn't matter. Wherever there is a computer, this program could infiltrate and take command. The person who has the program will then be able to access and take control over any and all functions. Power, transport, financial, life support to name a few would all be controlled by this one person and there's nothing anyone can do about it.” There was one person who might be able to do something about it, Duo thought to himself, but Heero was back on earth and unless by some remote chance, he'd managed to trigger someone's curiosity at the shuttle port, Duo didn't think there would be much hope of Heero doing anything.
“Surely there has to be something we can do?”
“I don't know. I do have some experience with computers, but I can't really see them letting either of us anywhere near a main frame or keyboard for that matter.”
“If only I could speak with Farrow,” Duric muttered.
“I don't think he would be any good. What Dekim is planning is a whole lot more in depth and complicated than Farrow would even begin to understand.”
“He's damn good with a computer,” replied Duric hotly.
“I'm not saying he isn't, not for your average shit anyway, but he's way out of his league with this stuff.”
“You still haven't told me where you know this guy from, or why he's doing this,” Duric said, changing the subject slightly.
“What do you know about the war back in AC195?”
Duric proceeded to fill Duo in on what he'd been up to during the first war.
“Dekim Barton was part of the original Operation Meteor,” Duo began and then filled in the gaps for Duric. “He more or less got tossed to the wayside during the war and I don't think he was too happy about that. I often wondered where he'd gone and what he was up to - if he was still alive that was. Guess I have my answer to that now.”
Duric remained silent, tossing the information around in his head.
“Now we have a rough idea of what he's planning, the question is, what are we going to do about it?”
“I still think Farrow is our best bet. If they have him working on the computers, I'm sure he could do something, maybe plant a virus or scramble the programming?”
Duo laughed. “I don't think so. First up, they will be watching him like a hawk; secondly, he doesn't have the know how to get into a system such as what Barton must have if he's to pull off this stunt. No, we need to think of something else.”
The silence stretched for a short while before Duo spoke again.
“I guess we can only wait and see what it is they want us for in relation to this project. Once we know what we're doing then we can formulate a plan or figure out how we can stop this.”
“I suppose so.”
The door opened and Matthews stepped inside with a gun. Young followed with a tray and set it down on the small table. Duo and Duric watched them both but didn't move from their positions on the bunks.
“Food,” Matthews stated. “We will be back later to collect the dishes.” Both men stepped out and the door locked behind them.
Duo raised himself from his bunk and shuffled over to the tray. Lifting one of the covers off a plate his face screwed up into a grimace. “I hate rehydrated food.”
* * *
“Morning, Heero,” Quatre greeted as he walked into the kitchen where Heero sat feeding Keitaro.
“Morning, Quatre,” Heero replied and raised another spoonful of baby cereal into Keitaro's waiting mouth.
Pouring himself a cup of tea, Quatre leaned against the bench and studied his friend. His empathy reached out and then recoiled a touch at the strong emotions coming from Heero. “Did you get any sleep?” Quatre could feel the exhaustion, the pain and anguish rolling off the Japanese man and felt for him.
“A little,” replied Heero honestly. He hadn't been sleeping much at all since Duo had disappeared and wouldn't until his lover was back with him.
Trowa and Wufei entered the kitchen at that point, Wufei making his usual green tea and Trowa opting for a coffee before fishing inside the 'fridge for something to make breakfast with.
“Are you taking Keitaro to work today?” Wufei asked, sitting down opposite his comrade.
“Yes. I can't leave him here by himself and I can't take a day off to stay at home with him.”
“Isn't Nurse Brown being released today?” asked Trowa as he cracked eggs into a bowl and began to whisk them.
“Hai, she is. I'll take Keitaro with me and if Sally releases Nurse Brown as planned then I'll ask her to bring him back home with her.” Heero placed the spoon in the empty bowl and wiped the baby's face with a wet cloth.
“I wonder if there are any new developments?” Wufei pondered.
“I'm sure if there had been, Une would have contacted us by now,” Quatre said as he removed the toast from the toaster and set it on plates ready for Trowa to put the scrambled eggs on.
“I suggest we all eat up and get into headquarters as soon as we can, there's still a shit load of stuff to go through,” Trowa informed as he set the plates down on the table.
“I should have something back from the other agents that are back tracking other invoices Barton ordered at some stage today, Thank you, Barton, this is delicious,” Wufei said as he tucked into his eggs.
“We've still to a bit more data to go through on those computers we took from the senators' offices so we might get lucky yet,” Quatre said.
“I'm going to get Keitaro ready.” Heero pushed his half eaten breakfast away, stood up and lifted Keitaro from his high chair, disappearing up the stairs.
Quatre sighed and looked at the food still left on Heero's plate. “We need to speed this up and find Duo before Heero has a complete breakdown.”
* * *
Une finished her call to the communications department, Agent Oak promising to page her just as soon as the security footage arrived from L2. With that part done, Une put a call through to the forensics section. Agent Summer was still out in the field so there wasn't much more she could find out from that department. Deciding she needed another coffee, Une stood and stretched; her spine popping and picking up her coffee mug, walked back out to the reception area and Felicity.
Felicity looked up as the door to her boss' office opened.
“Could you get me another coffee please, Felicity?”
“Certainly, ma'am.”
“Could you also see if Agent Fire and Day have arrived yet and if they have, get them to come through to my office along with Agents Air and Space, please?”
“Will do.” Felicity took the offered coffee mug and Une went back into her office to carry on with the mountain of paperwork that still awaited her attention.
* * *
Walking into Preventer headquarters, Heero headed directly for the medical section and Sally's office. The doctor wasn't there but a helpful nurse pointed him in the direction of Nurse Brown's room where she said he would find Doctor Po.
He paused just before the doorway when he heard voices from within.
“I will release you on the condition you rest that wrist as much as possible.”
“I don't plan on spring cleaning.”
“I should hope not. That wrist has suffered a major trauma and if you want to have full use of it again then you will heed my recommendations”
“I am a nurse you know.”
“Precisely. I rest my case.”
“Am I interrupting anything?” Heero asked as he walked into the hospital room, Keitaro in his arms.
Sally whirled around and Nurse Brown gave a broad smile.
“Heero!” Sally exclaimed. “No, you're not interrupting anything, I'm just trying to get this stubborn patient to listen to my advice and take it easy with that wrist when I release her,” she added and gave said nurse a glare.
“Don't try using that look on me, it won't work,” Nurse Brown huffed. “Ah, how's my little man this morning?” she said with a smile and held her arms out for Keitaro.
The child smiled and gurgled happily as he was handed over to his nanny.
“I can assure you that Nurse Brown will heed your advice and not stress her wrist when she comes home. Siska has kindly agreed to help her out with Keitaro,” Heero informed.
“Thank you, Heero.” Sally turned back to the nurse who was cuddling the child and pressing kisses to his face. “Okay, Margaret, you're free to go whenever you like.”
“Thank you.” Nurse Brown turned to Heero. “I appreciate the offer of help too and I'll be sure to let Siska know if I need assistance, and thank her as well.”
“Okay, now that's all settled, how are you going to get home?” Sally questioned.
Nurse Brown looked blank for a moment, she hadn't thought about that.
“I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of bringing in some clothes for you,” Heero said and placed a small bag on the foot of the bed. Turning to address Sally too, he continued. “Preventer forensics still have Nurse Brown's car in the Preventer garage. They have finished with it and the keys are here. She can drive home herself if she feels up to it, or I can call a cab.”
“I'd prefer to drive myself,” Margaret replied. “It's an automatic so I don't have to worry about using the wrist,” she said to Sally. “Thank you, Heero for being thoughtful enough to bring me some clothes. My others were no doubt sent to the rubbish when we got here and I really don't feel like driving home in one of these gowns.”
“Could get a little chilly, not to mention you'd scare half the other road users,” Sally mused.
Margaret looked down her nose at the doctor. Sally held her hands up in defense. “Don't you have other patients you need to torture?” the nanny asked.
“Yes, yes I do. I'd best get back to it then. Good luck Margaret and I'll expect you in my office in another six weeks to remove the cast.” Sally turned to leave. “I'll catch up with you a little later, Heero.” With that, she was gone.
“I'd best be getting to my office and start work,” Heero said. “Are you sure you will be okay?”
“I'll be fine, Heero.”
* * *
“Commander, this is Oak from communications. The security footage has arrived from L2.”
“Thank you, Oak. I'll be there shortly.” Une disconnected and then pushed the intercom. “Felicity, have you gotten hold of Agents Day, Fire, Space and Air yet?”
“Yes, ma'am. They are on their way here now.”
“Send them straight in when they arrive will you?”
“Certainly.”
Une leaned back in her chair and pondered what could be on the security disc from the L2 shuttle port. Moments later a knock at her door had her sitting upright again. “Enter.”
Four agents walked in and stood before the commander's desk.
“Ah, gentlemen. The security footage has arrived from L2. Agent Oak is waiting for us in communications.”
The four agents gave a nod and followed their commander out of her office and down to communications.
Oak looked up when the door opened. “Commander, agents,” he greeted. “I have the footage downloading to disc now. It should be almost finished. If you would all come this way?”
Oak led them through to another room and went to the computer that was humming away. “Ah, it's done,” he muttered and removed the disc from the computer. With disc in hand, Oak walked across the room to another computer, this one had a larger screen. Popping the disc into the hard drive, he clicked on a few commands and moved back. Heero and the others crowded around, eager to see what was on the screen.
The screen cleared and the footage began to roll.
Duo and several others were seen entering the shuttle port, then Duo and three others, all dressed in coveralls with some logo and company name on them, stood off to one side whilst the larger man disappeared off screen.
Two of the group seemed slightly tense, eyes constantly roving around. Duo and the other man, whilst appearing tense as well, weren't as edgy as the other two.
“That's definitely Duo,” Heero said softly.
“That other guy, isn't he the one called Duric?” Wufei asked.
“I think you could be right, Chang. I'll cross check against the photos we have,” Une said.
Heero watched carefully as Duo turned to look straight at the camera. His eyes flicked to the left and right and then back at the camera. His mouth opened and a few words were spoken before Duo turned away and resumed his former stance.
Reaching out, Heero grabbed the mouse and stilled the playback.
“Yuy?” questioned Une.
Heero didn't look at his commander; his eyes were fixed on the screen as he rewound the footage to where Duo looked at the camera. “Duo said something,” he grunted and hit play.
The images rolled again, this time Heero slowed the frames down and studied his husband's face and lips very carefully. He hit pause just as Duo's image was turning away. “Fuck!”
“What, Yuy? Could you read his lips? What did he say?” demanded Wufei.
Trowa, Quatre and Une were also eager to know.
Heero closed his eyes and hung his head. “If I'm correct in my lip reading we're in a shit load of trouble.”
“Agent Day, what did Agent Night say?” Une asked, her voice low.
Swallowing, Heero raised his head and looked Une in the eye. “He said; Dekim Barton, Firecell, back up army.”
Silence filled the room.
~ * ~
tbc...