Brittney couldn’t believe that her brother would just drop her like that! She grumbled to herself about his rudeness as she boarded the shuttle. Noin had ordered her to come back not even a day after Seth ditched her. He could have waited for her to catch up. It would have saved everyone the trouble of finding another ride back.
Of course, she did understand why he ran off so quickly once she learned what had happened to Jasmine. That poor girl, she’d lost her baby! She settled into her seat and thought of how Jasmine must be doing. “She’s probably not taking it well…” She sighed.
~~~
As the rest of the kids returned, Tech was explaining to everyone what had happened to Jasmine, and what he had done to help her. He really didn’t like all the attention. After all, any other decent person would have done the same.
Noin kept him around for a while, until she could understand exactly what was going on. It seemed Noin was greatly disturbed by the loss of the young girl’s child. Tech soon figured out why. Noin too, was pregnant.
It was probably for the best that she lost the kid though…Tech thought to himself. After all, she’s only a baby herself. She’ll have more kids when she’s ready. He’d talked with her boyfriend as well; Seth was his name. He seemed like a decent guy. He wasn’t one of those guys who would run off on her once the baby came along. Although it was obvious the entire situation put a huge strain on their relationship, he could also tell that those two were one of those rare young couples who were truly in love.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and tried to avoid any more questions. It had been a long day, and he wanted to get back to his friends and tell them what had gone on. He really needed to get away from the Preventors. Frankly, they made him nervous. He slipped unnoticed out the front door and left.
“Good riddance,” He said as the large, ugly concrete building began to disappear over the horizon. The Preventors already had one of them in there anyway so he wasn’t needed. He left quickly, making a silent vow to never be seen by the Preventors again.
~~~
Jeff was in the hanger when the last of the kids, Jason and Indigo, arrived back.
“Hey Jay!” Jeff grinned as Jason stepped out of the shuttle.
“Please don’t call me that.” Jason said dryly.
“Whatever you say,” Jeff shrugged. “Where’s Helen? I thought she’d be back by now.”
Jason glanced up at the black teen. Why did he care so much? What was going on between Helen and Jeff? Surely they weren’t actually a couple…were they? Jason felt an odd twinge of something inside of him. Was it jealously? He shook his head clear of the thought and forced himself to answer Jeff’s question.
“I think Noin told her to stay back for while. Noin’s pretty suspicious of Saber, and she wants Helen to catch him.
Jeff’s eyes flashed, “Saber? No way!” He cried.
“Yeah…is that really so hard to believe? I mean, he’s been acting pretty weird lately.”
“Yeah, I hate that guy!” Jeff chuckled. “It’s about time hey locked him up.”
“Do you really think Helen will be OK out there on her own?” Indigo wondered, approaching the two boys.
“I hope so…” Jason said honestly.
“Not to worry, that’s girl’s tough as nails! She can handle that idiot no problem.” Jeff said confidently. Indigo didn’t look as convinced as she shed her heavy coat and left the boys alone.
“So…what’s up with you and Helen?” Jason attempted to sound casual with little or no success.
“What do you mean?” Jeff blinked at him. “We’re just friends, man. For now anyway.” He laughed and winked. Jason was taken aback. “You can’t be serious…”
“Oh I am, she digs me, man, I know it!” Jeff said happily.
Jason frowned. He was just coming to terms with the fact that he couldn’t get Helen. He suspected that if he couldn’t get a girl, no one could. It seemed that Jeff was proving him wrong. How could Helen go for a moron like Jeff? And he was a rookie too! He and Helen had been together since the beginning. It didn’t seem fair.
Of course, logically speaking, Brittney was the better girl. She was just as pretty, and she treated him way better than Helen ever did.
Jason shook it off and told himself that he liked the challenge that Helen proposed. Maybe he was just feeling that way about Jeff because he was succeeding where Jason had failed. And Jason hated failing, especially when it came to women.
“How’d you do it?” Jason gaped in awe. It was all that he could come up with to say.
~~~
“This is it, everyone know what they’re doing?” Helen asked as she and the Egyptian Preventors prepared to invade the Matatara production plant.
“We’re just going to go in there, set up the explosives in the production part of the base, and then get the hell out.”
“But Miss Maxwell,” The Commander said in his usually loud voice, “What about collecting information on these new underwater suits, ma’am?”
“Just leave that to me…” Helen grinned to herself. She was the perfect bait to draw out Saber.
“Now, move out!”
The soldiers all ran in their appointed positions. “Saber, you’ll cover me,”
The Asian nodded and loaded his weapon. “Let’s go,” he suggested.
Together the two headed for the base.
~~
Getting inside was easier than Helen expected, but she still didn’t let her guard down. At any moment Saber could turn on her and hand her over the Matatara. When that happened, she would be ready and they would send him over to the penal colony. But then a thought struck her. What if Saber was going to use this to regain their trust? She shook her head, Saber didn’t seem like the type. She continued on her way towards the production area of the base. They were going to steal one of the new mobile suits before they were destroyed and bring it back to their home base in Zimbabwe.
They found the hanger and entered cautiously.
“Freeze!” Came the immediate, commanding voice from beside her. Gotcha, Helen thought with a smirk as she raised her hands in the air. Sure enough, all around her were Matatara soldiers. She heard a gun click from behind her, and a big, broad-shouldered man stood with his gun pointing at her head. She glanced behind her and saw that Saber had disappeared. “That nasty little sneak…” She growled.
“Well now, what do we have here?” The big man chuckled. “A little Preventor lost her way.” He grinned at his companions. “Do you think you could just come in here and blow up our base without us knowing? We’ve already got all your little friends.” He motioned across the hanger, where the Commander, Rahn, and a few of the others were cuffed and being guarded by armed Matatara loyalists.
“What are you going to do with us?” She growled.
“Oh, well Mistress Cassius doesn’t take well to intruders, so they are going to be executed. You however…” He licked his lips, “You we may be able to have a bit more fun with.”
Helen shuddered; she didn’t want to think about what he was suggesting. She kept her eyes locked on his; she wasn’t about to bend her knees to this creep.
“I hear you’re in charge of this little operation out here. Looks like you made a mistake.”
“Who told you that?” she asked, not taking her eyes off his.
“A little bird told me…” He laughed.
Helen grit her teeth in anger, she looked for an opening to strike. As she searched the area, she happened to look up and saw something above her. It was a person! And not just any person, it was Saber! Her eyes locked on his and her expression clearly told him what she thought of him. Traitor… The big guy was talking again; she slowly reached up and played nervously with her ‘earring’. She wasn’t going to take this any longer.
She was almost ready…
“Kill him,” She heard the guy say suddenly. Her head snapped up and she saw the man across the hanger nod and point his gun at the Commander.
“NO!” Helen screamed. She ripped her earring off and pressed the top in, then tossed it into the middle of the group. She ran off and headed to help the Commander. Behind her the ‘earring’ exploded, sending up a cloud of dust, as well as knocking down most of the soldiers.
She was halfway to the Commander when a gunshot echoed through the hanger.
Helen cursed, and saw the Commander fall to the ground, blood gushing from his head. Still Helen ran; she grabbed her other earring and threw it at the second group. As it exploded, she ushered the others towards the exit.
“Are the explosives in place?” she asked Rahn as she undid his cuffs. “Most of them,” He replied.
“Good, then let’s get out of here.”
“Helen, what happened? How did they know?”
“Saber’s turned on us,” She hissed. Rahn looked shocked but said nothing as he and the others followed Helen out. They fired at everyone they saw as they left. Once they were clear of the building, Helen pressed the detonator and a part of the base exploded. Chaos followed, and the Preventors took that time to escape.
~~
“We need to get out of here. Move base camp!” Helen ordered them. “Saber knows where we are, no doubt he’ll tell them and they’ll come after us.”
“I can’t believe that Saber…” Rahn shook his head sadly. “And they got the Commander.” His frown deepened. It seemed that all the Preventors there had a deep respect for their late Commander.
Helen took over and organised the packing of base camp and talked with Rahn about possible new locations.
About two hours after the initial packing, the last person they expected to see came by.
Helen had been assisting with taking down a tent near the edge of the camp when there was a rustling in the bushes and footsteps. She froze; they couldn’t have found them already! Cursing, she pulled out he gun and prepared herself for a battle.
But instead of a group of heavily armed Matatara soldiers, only Saber emerged from the bush.
Helen glared at him and pulled back the safety of her gun, pressing the barrel against his temple.
Saber sighed and slowly raised his arms into the air.
“You have some nerve coming back here.” Helen hissed. “What are you thinking? After you betrayed us the way you did? Did you think we would forgive you? You’re going straight to jail, perhaps they’ll even execute you and do us all a huge favour.”
“Please pardon me, Instructor.” Saber bowed.
“Don’t try and suck up to me! I’m not your instructor anymore!” Helen screamed. “Because of you, these guys lost their Commander, and we weren’t able to get any information on the enemy suits!”
“I know, I should not have left you when I did. I’m sorry for not being there.”
“Oh puh-lease!” Helen rolled her eyes. “I suppose now your going to tell me you saw something the other way and left. I’m not going to fall for that, Saber. You can forget it! I’m taking you back in chains!”
“Fair enough,” Saber said, “Your anger is understandable.”
“Damn right it is! Now do you have a good reason for your actions? For leaving me, or for your late-night calls?”
Saber’s eyes widened.
“Oh yes, I know you’ve been contacting the Matatara.” Helen growled. “Anything to say in your defence?”
Saber remained silent.
“I see…” Helen took some cuffs off her belt and snapped them on Saber’s wrists. “I’m taking you back to Zimbabwe, Noin can decide what to do with you.”
She pushed Saber roughly across the camp and tied him up to wait until they could move base camp. Then she would go directly back to Zimbabwe and hand Saber over to Noin.
~~~
Jasmine was still unable to walk on her own, and she was going insane with cabin fever. Seth was around most of the time, but she had ordered him away to get some rest and food. Eventually she managed to get Seth to leave, but she knew that he would be back in a few hours.
She asked around for Tech a few times, the man who saved her, but it seemed that he had disappeared. She didn’t mind though, she could understand why he wanted to leave instead of being bombarded with questions all the time.
She closed her eyes and recalled the creepy dream she’d had. She woke up screaming, waking both Seth and her brother. Neither wanted to leave her after that. It was hard getting some time to herself. Now she wished she hadn’t told them to go. Being alone could be so boring!
She settled herself into her bed and looked around the room. Everyone had come to offer their condolences, even people she didn’t know! She felt special, but she didn’t like the circumstances.
There was a soft knock on her door, and Jasmine was surprised to see David let himself in.
“Hey Dave, what are you doing here?” Jasmine forced a smile.
“I just came to see how you’re doing.” He offered her a bouquet of flowers and a card.
“Thanks Davie boy,” She smirked. “I’m OK,” She placed the flowers on the table next to her bed.
“The rest of the guys are coming back,” He told her, “Actually, I think Jason and Indigo might be here already. Helen’s staying behind.”
“What? Why?”
“Because they want to catch Saber. They’re almost positive that he’s responsible for what happened. Helen overheard him talking to someone and telling them about your baby.”
“What!” She screamed. Her eyebrows drew together in a dangerous glare. “I can’t believe that little…” She growled, “To attack an innocent child!”
“Don’t worry, Helen will get him…” David assured her.
“She’d better! And you better not let me get my hands on that little bastard! I’d kill him with my bare hands!”
David smiled knowingly, he didn’t doubt that Jasmine would at last attempt such a feat.
“I’ve been relocating the rookies,” David said, changing the subject, “things should be getting less crowded soon. A lot of Preventors are being spread out to other bases. Maybe eventually we’ll get our own rooms.”
“Well that’ll be a relief.” Jasmine sighed. “ Do you know how annoying it is living with all these girls?”
David laughed, “I can imagine.”
So Dave, when was the last time you saw that girlfriend of yours?”
David blushed, “Lex?”
“Yeah…”
“It’s been a long time. I think I’ll take my next vacation to go and see her.”
Jasmine smiled “You should, have you seen Seth around?”
“He was in the cafeteria last time I saw him.”
“Oh, well at least he’s getting something to eat.”
“Yeah…” He was cut off when and announcement came over the PA system.
“ATTENTION ALL AVAILABLE GUNDAM PILOTS, PLEASE REPORT TO THE SOUTH HANGER IMMEDIATELY, I REAPEAT…”
David sighed, “Looks like I have to go…”
“Yeah, thanks for coming by, Dave.”
“Jasmine? I’m sorry.”
“Huh? For what?”
“For not protecting you like I was supposed to.”
“Oh please Dave,” Jasmine rolled her eyes. He was blaming himself. She grabbed his arm and hugged him tightly. “It’s not your fault.” She told him.
David tentatively returned her hug.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
The two jumped apart and stared at Seth standing in the doorway.
David blushed bright red, “I wasn’t…”
He was cut off when Seth started to laugh. “Come on Dave, we gotta go. See ya later babe,” He blew a kiss at Jasmine then he and David ran off.
~~~
“I didn’t think you’d be back so soon,” Noin admitted with a smile as Helen’s shuttle docked in the south hanger.
“Neither did I,” Helen grinned.
“Did you get him?”
“Oh yeah…” Helen nodded. The shuttle door opened and she closed the Com Link and stepped out.
Noin was already waiting for her, and the other kids were making their way in.
“Helen! Back already?” Seth grinned at her as he and David made their way in. They were the last to arrive.
“Yeah,” She answered.
“OK, everyone ready, we’re going to bring Saber out now, I need all of you to escort him to the holding cells. Maximum security. We’re not taking any risks.”
They nodded all nodded.
“Helen, you look like you could use a long nap.” Noin said.
“I do…but not until after we get everything settled.”
“That’s what I love and hate about you Helen, you’re so dedicated to your job.”
Helen smirked and watched as Seth, Joel and Jason all grabbed Saber out of the cell on the shuttle. It was easy to see that all three guys were pissed. David and the girls stood at the bottom of the shuttle to wait for the prisoner.
Saber emerged, calm and poised as usual. He kept his head held high as he was shoved roughly from the craft. Helen was glad he was finally being brought to justice. Wouldn’t Cassius be surprised when she found out they’d caught her mole?
Jeff found his way to the hanger just as they were bringing Saber out.
“Hey! What are you doing in here?” Noin screamed at him.
“Hey! I’m not a rookie anymore! I’m allowed!” Jeff retorted. He spotted Helen and grinned at her.
“Hey babe…”
“Call me that again and I’ll cut your tongue out.” Helen hissed. Jeff only laughed and snaked his arm around her waist. “You’d be so proud of me, Instructor, I graduated rookie training with flying colours! Look at this!” He proudly displayed his new Preventor uniform and pilot badge. “That’s great Jeff,” Helen said dryly, “But I’m not in the mood.” She shrugged off his arm and followed the rest of the group out to bring Saber to the holding cells.
Jeff watched as they passed. Saber glanced up just as he was beside Jeff and the two teens locked eyes. They exchanged glares until Saber disappeared down the hall. As they left, Jeff’s eyes sparkled with humour.
“So he got caught did he? Well it’s about time…” He laughed as he shoved his hands into his pockets and sauntered off.
