DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing belonged to
Sunrise and co. I’m not making any profits out of this, so don’t sue. Oh, those
you think you’ve never heard before belong to me. And feedback is very welcome,
people!☺
TIMELINE: The story takes place after
Survival of the Fittest, I’d say almost two years.
NOTE: To avoid confusion, I have italic-and-bold the clones’ name. Hopefully, that could help you understand who’s who.
By Arayelle Lynn.
00:00:75:04
He breathed the sigh of relief once the red timer
stopped its deadly count. Wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead, he thumbed
his comm. “Trowa here. I’ve defused one explosive.” Then, he began to move
away. “I’m going to keep searching for the next one.”
“Roger that,” said Heero’s ever-calm voice. “That’s
four we’ve defused. Zechs and Wu Fei are already moving to find the next ones.”
“Man, can’t we at least determine how many they set
up in this colony? Searching like this is like looking for a needle in a whole
farm of haystacks,” he heard Duo complained. The Gundam pilots had all agreed
to keep the channel open to save time.
It was Wu Fei who answered the question. “Well,
Winteridge didn’t exactly offer anything. The next time you see him,
don’t forget to ask why he didn’t make your job easier by drawing up a map and
mark the place where he placed all the explosives,” he replied, sarcastically.
The tension of the moment was getting to him. And so was Maxwell’s constant
complaints.
Duo bit back an angry retort. Losing his temper won’t
help the matter. Especially since he’s trying to defuse one explosive at this
very moment. “Alright, mine’s defused. I’m moving to the next one.” Though he
didn’t exactly say it, Heero could almost hear him screaming, ‘We’ll never get
to the bombs in time!!’ under his last comment.
Frustration. He knew that he’s feeling it too. All of
them were. They only had seconds to find the bombs and defused them. And god
knows how many explosives Winteridge had placed throughout the colony. And by
the look of how long the colony had been within his grasp, it had to be a lot.
“Sara, come on!” he whispered, silently praying that
his secret partner would hurry up. He had never felt so helpless. Time was not
on their side and although the Preventers had started evacuating the colonists,
he knew that they have little time to get half of them off the colony.
After defusing his second bomb, Heero began his
search for the next one. They had all divided themselves into sectors. Heero
knew it’s not enough but it’s the only plan they have right now. “What does
your mysterious informant say?” Suddenly a voice interrupted his reverie.
Zechs.
“Working on it,” said Heero as a form of a reply. He
didn’t continue.
“Well, he better work faster ‘cause we only have sixty
seconds left,” said Duo, seemingly breathless from his run.
Before Heero could reply, Wu Fei answered him. “He
is.” He let his confidence reflected in his voice. “Heero wouldn’t let a lesser
man be his informant if otherwise. I trust his judgement.” Though the others
thought that Wu Fei was talking about Heero, only Heero knew what the Chinese
pilot was referring to. Or rather, who.
Fifty seven seconds…
Suddenly, Heero’s long range comm. crackled. Not
slowing down his pace, he switched his frequency. “Sara?”
“Got what you want,” said the girl. Like Duo, she
also seemed breathless. “Go to the nearest database and I’ll transmit them to
you.” Heero obeyed and relayed the instruction to the others. He knew Sara
would transmit the information to the other databases as well.
“No time to explain how but this is all you got in
your sector,” said Sara as soon as Heero accessed the database.
“Mother of all gods!” he heard Duo swore over the
comm. That gave Heero a clue that the others were looking at the same display
on their own databases. “It’s enough to turn this colony into a nuclear
disaster!”
“I would suggest you start now. You only have fifty
seconds left,” Sara cut the rest of Duo’s comment. Knowing that the others
couldn’t hear what Sara was saying to him, Heero reopened the channel to the
others.
“Let’s go. We only have fifty seconds.”
>>>@@<<<
Sara kept her grip tightened on the mouse. After
giving Heero the location of the bombs in the colony, she found herself
rendered helpless. Now that her part was over, she wished that she had
something else to do, besides waiting. She wished she could be there to lend an
extra hand to Heero and his friends.
She had wished for many things but none ever came
true.
And so, she eased her hold on the mouse, not wanting
to break yet another. She fought to regain control over her raging emotions,
just like she could do before the accident. But nothing could ease the turmoil
inside her. The raging storm of emotions that began with the news came to her,
continued on.
“Please be alright,” she found herself whispering.
She involuntarily reached for the gold ring around her finger and stroke it.
‘Let him be safe,’ she prayed for the thousandth times.
>>>@@<<<
Lady Une waited in her command post, anxiously. They
had all lost contact of the Gundam pilots a few seconds ago. Even Noin, who was
at the colony overseeing the evacuation, couldn’t hail her husband. It was as
if the pilots had all chose to ignore the world outside.
“Still nothing, ma’am,” said Preventer’s
communication officer, Agent June. “They’ve switched off their comms.”
‘Probably because they do not want to hear me ordering
them to retreat,’ Lady Une thought, clenching her fists. ‘They would stay there
until the last seconds. Damn it! Don’t they know that they’re worth a lot more
to us alive than dead?’
As Lady Une fought the inner turmoil that raged on
inside her, Sally Po shook her head. No one had expected that the Gundam pilots’
simple plan of rescuing one of their own would resulted to them being trapped on
the colony. And it’s not the usual kind of trap. It’s a trap in which their own
sense of duty and kindness were put against them. A trap that Duke Winteridge
had carefully laid out for his enemy.
“The shuttle bearing Quatre Winner had just lift
off,” June reported. Sally saw Lady Une relaxed a little. At least one of the
pilots was out of danger. And that would put the other pilots at ease from the
worry of their rescued friend.
Deciding that she could no longer stand idle, Sally
turned to her superior. “I better prepare a medical crew for Winner. I know
that at least one person is already there at the docking bay.” Without waiting
for an acknowledgement, Sally exited the command post.
Thirty seconds left…
>>>@@<<<
Winteridge chuckled to himself. He knew that it was a
brilliant plan. He had expected that the Gundam pilots would find him at the L4
colony cluster. Though he had been surprised by how quick they had found his
hiding place, he had been ready. Sure, he had left some business unfinished due
to this unexpected turn of event and that he would suffer some setbacks in his
planning but he wasn’t worried. He knew that the pilots would never find all
the bombs in time to defuse them. And that their self-imposed ethics would
surely get one or two killed, if not all.
But Winteridge never get where he was by
underestimating his enemy. He knew that with the Gundam pilots, things can
go unexpected. If somehow, the pilots survive the ordeal AND save the colony in
time, then his enemy was far more resourceful than he thought.
That would make the game even more interesting.
And that would make them an even more worthy
opponent.
Twenty seconds left…
>>>@@<<<
“Come on! Come on! Keep them moving,” Noin heard one
of her subordinate shouted over the comm. Now that Winteridge’s army had all
retreated along with their leader, the Preventer troops had no choice but to
break pursuit so that they could handle the panicking colonists.
Casting away her concern for her husband, Noin gave
all her attention on the evacuation effort, though she knew that they won’t be
able to evacuate everyone to safety in time. Their only hope was for all the
bombs to be defused. That’s their only option.
Glancing at the timer in her white Taurus, Noin
almost gave out an involuntary whimper. She couldn’t help but wondering about
Zechs and the Gundam boys. She knew that even if she plead them to abandon
their search, they would not. Zechs included. And so, she opted to stop wasting
time getting through to them and help maintain order.
And it never occurred to her to think what would
happen if her husband perished with the rest of the Gundam pilots. Why? Because
once, Relena Darlian had said something about Heero. “…because Heero is the
kind of person who can give us hope…”
And Sally had once said, “I’d stake my life on
that kid… because he can make the impossible possible…”
And over the years, Noin had learned that the same
thing applies to the other Gundam pilots too. So, she held that thought as she
counted every seconds. “Show us a miracle, guys,” she prayed, twisting her head
away from the colony.
Ten seconds…
>>>@@<<<
“I’m clear!” Sara’s head snapped back when she heard
Trowa’s voice over the comm. While waiting, she had managed to tap into the
Gundam pilots’ frequency. She listened to every word they had conversed with
each other, which was not much, considering that they all seemed to be wanting
silence. It drove her crazy but just hearing their heavy breathing from running
around the colony put her a little at ease.
“Clear!” Heero reported next. “I’m making my way
towards other sectors,” he added next to his private channel with Sara. She
wanted to tell him, to remind him that he wouldn’t have anytime to help the
others. But knowing Heero these past few years told her that she would be
wasting her breath.
“Mine’s all defused!” she heard Wu Fei yelled over
the comm.
“Mine too,” said Zechs, before Wu Fei could even
finished his sentence.
“Duo,” Sara whispered, her eyes glancing at the
timer.
“Duo?” she heard Trowa said over the comm.
A heavy breathing came as a reply. “I’m on my last.
Hold your horsie, okay?”
“Maxwell, you do NOT have time,” said Wu Fei, his
voice was filled with concern for the first time.
“Hey if I blew myself up, tell Hilde I love her,
okay?”
“Duo!”
They heard him cursed. “I dropped my Swiss Army knife.
Guess I have to rip off all the wires.”
Sara’s grip tightened. She knew that the others were
all making their way towards Duo’s location. But time was not on their side.
“Damn!” she heard Duo yelled.
Then, she heard the sound of a blast.
And everything was quiet.
>>>@@<<<
When the counter hit zero, Heero waited for the earth
to shake under him. But it never came. Instead, a thick silence followed and
for a moment, time seemed to freeze itself. When he finally regained his
bearings, Heero looked around him. ‘Wha…’
“What happened?” someone beaten him to the punch. It
was Trowa.
“Where’s the explosion?” he heard Wu Fei asked,
sounding as confused and surprised as he felt.
Heero reached for his comm. “Sara?” he inquired.
But before his trusted informant could say anything,
they all heard a familiar laugh. It was a laughter that filled with relief, with
a tinge of disbelief. “Maxwell?” they heard Zechs voiced.
“I did it! I can’t believe that I did it!” Duo’s
voice was filled with glee.
“What did you do?” Heero heard Trowa said. But his
voice wasn’t coming only from the comm. It also came from another corridor just
around the corner. When Heero finally got to the corner, he saw Trowa staring
at a black spot on the wall while Duo was jumping in a mad dance.
A series of footsteps behind him announced Wu Fei and
Zechs’ arrival. For a moment, they all stared at Duo who was still dancing. It
took Duo a full minute to realize that everyone was staring at him. Ceasing his
dance rather abruptly, he cleared his throat and recomposed himself. He gave
them a cocky smile.
“Well, don’t you all thank me all at once,” he said,
grinning like a Cheshire cat. “I did, after all, save the colony.”
But when the others didn’t share his opinion, he
sighed. “You guys don’t really appreciate humor, do you?” He shook his head and
then pointed at a charred item on the floor with his gun. “When I dropped my
knife in the hole, I blasted the bomb to smithereens.”
“You used a gun to blast an explosive?”
Wu Fei repeated disbelief. “Whatever gave you that crazy idea? You could’ve caused
it to explode, or have you forgotten that fact?”
Duo shrugged. “Hey, I was already at my final
seconds. I thought, what the heck… it wouldn’t hurt to try, right?” he defended
his actions. He then gave Wu Fei a cocky grin. “And it works damn well, right?”
Suddenly, Trowa roared followed by Heero and Zechs.
Both Duo and Wu Fei stared at their laughing friends, thinking that they might
be laughing off the tension and not from the humor. Chuckling, Duo added, “Hey,
what do you know? I’ve made Trowa and Heero laugh at last!”
>>>@@<<<
As soon as things were secured, the Gundam pilots
turned to a more serious matter. Once Noin positioned her agents on the colony,
they returned to MO V to inquire the state of their friend. The second they all
landed, Trowa disappeared into the hallway, his concern for his surrogate
little brother was evident.
Duo and Wu Fei paused when they noticed that Heero
stayed in Wing Zero. “Heero?” they called out. But Heero seemed to be talking
to someone else. So, not wanting to interrupt their friend, they left.
“Winteridge’s escaped,” Lady Une reported. “He used
the explosives to guard his escape.”
“That’s to be expected,” said Heero, looking at the
screen. “Have you determined where he’s headed to?”
The image of Lady Une shook her head. “No. We had our
hands full monitoring the evacuation. But my guess is he could be making his
way to Mars. It’s the nearest and the fall of L4 colony isn’t likely to
influence his control over the Mars colonies.”
“Roger that,” said Heero, preparing himself for
another transmission.
“Aren’t you going to see your friend first?” said
Lady Une, interrupting him from breaking the contact.
Heero’s featured didn’t change but something in his
eyes softened. “Quatre has Trowa and the others looking out for him. He doesn’t
need me,” he answered. Then continued before she could say anything. “I will
see him once my business is done.” With that, he broke off and opened another
channel.
“You got that?” he simply asked.
Sara nodded. “Yeah, I’ll do anything I can to find
their hideout.”
“Do that. I’m going to see a friend.”
“Uh… Heero,” said Sara hesitantly. He looked at her,
questioningly. “Err… nothing,” she said, not wanting to complicate the matter.
“I’ll get back at you in 24 hours.”
>>>@@<<<
The silence was so thick that Duo thought he could
chop it off with an axe. They were all sitting in the white room, waiting for
Quatre to wake up. After hours of being in the emergency room, the doctors came
out only to tell them that their friend was not out of the woods yet. That
their rescue might only be for them to watch their friend’s life slipping away.
No, the doctor didn’t exactly say that. But it
sounded just the same. That it’s up to Quatre to fight it through.
‘But how can he?’ Duo thought bitterly. He regarded
his friend’s shrunken frame and pale skin, which tinged with a sickening green
pallor. ‘He don’t look like he has any fight left in him.’
Duo almost cried when he saw the state his friend was
in. He had seen his friends looking like that before they died. That was years
ago, when he was just a little orphaned boy. Now, seeing Quatre looking like that
made him fear that he’s losing yet another good friend.
Shutting his eyes to block the image of Quatre, Duo
turned his attention to Trowa and Dorothy. Both were sitting on either side of
Quatre. Dorothy was holding Quatre’s bony hands, tears threatening to roll down
her cheeks and Trowa was staring at Quatre’s face, probably blaming himself for
not going after him a lot sooner.
Standing nearby were Heero and Wu Fei. Both of their
faces were expressionless but being a Gundam pilot, it taught Duo enough to be
able to read someone by just looking into their eyes. There in Heero and Wu
Fei’s eyes, was a look that promised Winteridge a whole universe of pain once
they got to him.
Of all, Duo found himself saluting Erea Winner. She
had showed great strength and professionalism in handling the situation. Though
Quatre was her brother, Erea Winner kept her emotions at bay and made occasional
visits to Quatre’s room and the physician office to find a way to help her
little brother. Seeing her strength made Duo realized how he missed Quatre.
‘Don’t you die on us, Quatre. We need you. All of us
do.’
>>>@@<<<
“Come on, Kylie. We have to leave now!” Quatre
shouted over the roaring winds. The storm was getting worse. It took some trees
off their roots and had scattered all their lunch. And it was getting harder to
stand upright now. Well, for his case that is. As for Kylie, she was sitting on
the grass as if the winds didn’t bother her at all.
“You have to leave, Quatre. I’m staying,” she
said, her voice was soft.
He shook his head. Why was Kylie behaving like this?
“No, I’m leaving here without you. If you’re staying, then I’m staying.”
As he said that, a thunder split, nearly breaking his
eardrums, and the winds roared even more ferocious. Quatre cringed as he
struggled to recover his wits. But he was satisfied when Kylie finally stood up
and faced him. Her face was sad.
“You can’t stay, Quatre. I don’t want you to.”
“Then, you’ll have to come with me,” said Quatre,
hopeful.
But Kylie shook her head. “As much as I want to, I
can’t.”
“Why not?” he asked, feeling a slight chill creeping
over him.
Kylie’s expression was sympathetic. “Oh, Quatre.
Don’t you remember what happened? Don’t you remember how we defeated the
Telrhani?”
As if on cue, a wave of memories and emotions rushed
through him. It was then he remembered all the pain, all the anger and his
feeling of helplessness. He remembered his denials, his insanity and at last
his acceptance. As he remembered all of these, he felt himself experiencing the
emotions again. But only now, the pain was even more intense.
“Yes, I sacrificed myself, remember?” she said,
voicing the thoughts that played in his mind. “I died that day.”
“But you’re here…” his voice trailed off, hoarsely.
His heart moaning, ‘No!’ He felt hot tears forming and his heart crushing.
Kylie looked around them. At the storm, the grey
trees and the chaos. She then gestured her hands around them, helplessly. “This
is but a manifestation inside your head. The park, the trees, the birds all of
them were created by you, Quatre. Even me.”
“You?”
“Yes. You called me here. And I care for you too much
to ignore your call,” she answered, her love was clearly reflected in her eyes
for the first time ever. “So I stayed with you, played along with your
fantasy.” Then she shook her head. “But I cannot anymore.”
Quatre gulped a giant size lump in his throat. “But
why? Why can’t we at least pretend that nothing has happened? Why can’t we be
together now?”
“Because Trowa needs you. And Heero, Duo, Wu Fei and
the others. They need you to be out there to fight Winteridge.” Then she took
his hands in hers, her eyes imploring him. “I need you out there.”
He squeezed her hands. The tears were clouding his
vision. “But I want to be here with you.”
“If you stay, you’ll die,” said Kylie, gazing at him
sadly. “I don’t want you to die. I want you to live. Please Quatre, you mustn’t
die with me.”
“But there’s nothing there for me anymore. The guys
can handle Winteridge without me.”
Kylie shook her head. “If you die today, Winteridge
will win. He kidnapped you so he could weaken our team. And he’s succeeding.
Now, you’re in the Preventer’s infirmary with your life draining away unless
you do something. Fight for your life, Quatre.”
“I don’t want to. I want to stay here with you!” he
insisted, stubbornly.
As he said that, the thunder exploded again, shaking
the very ground that they were standing on as the sky grew even darker. Kylie
looked at the skies, frowning. She turned to Quatre again, her eyes pleading.
“Please, Quatre. For the love of us, please go.”
“No, I’m staying with you. My death would not affect
things as much. And Heero and the others are tough. They can take it.”
“What about Dorothy?” Kylie asked, quietly. “How
would she feel when the person she loves died?”
At that, Quatre was taken aback. He had completely
forgotten about Dorothy! Now, he was torn. Torn between Kylie and dear Dorothy.
How will she cope when he died? Will she accept his death well? Can he hurt the
girl who had done so much for him in the past?
But then, Kylie’s here. He had longed to be with her.
But
what about Dorothy?
“Please, Quatre. Live. Fight,” Kylie pleaded for the
first time ever. “You have so much to offer to life. I want to see you live the
life that all of us have helped to create. I want to see you live with the
person you love happily and die at old age. I want you to watch proudly the
children and the grandchildren you will raised. I want you to enjoy what life
has to offer. But must of all,” she paused, brushing his hand on her cheek. “I
want you to enjoy everything that was denied from me.”
Surprised, Quatre could only stare at her. He had
never seen her shed as much as a tear. But now, a single tear was rolling down
her cheek as she looked pleadingly at him. “Live, Quatre. You’re the only one
who can keep our love alive,” she said, her voice was so soft that he thought
he heard it inside his head. Maybe he did because the storm was drowning every
single sound they’d made.
“How can I live without you?” he finally said,
brokenly. His chest felt like it was burning and tears trailed down his cheeks.
“How can I go on without you being there to pick me up when I fall?”
“You can, Quatre. You’re far stronger than this. In
fact, you’re the strongest among us. That’s why I chose you.”
“But I missed you.”
Kylie’s heart tore but she held her strength. “And so
do I. But we both know that it’s never meant to be.”
The storm started to clear as the park returned to
its normal state. Around them, they could see birds singing and flowers dancing
along with the rhythm of the breeze. But aside that, they were the only ones
there.
“Go, Quatre. The others need you.”
Quatre gazed at the face of the person he loved with
his whole heart. He reluctantly fought down the longing in his heart. “Will you
be waiting for me?”
“I will always wait for you, Quatre Winner,” she
said. “I will always be there for you. Just like old times.”
He smiled at the words. “Just like old times,” he
chorused.
“It’s time, Quatre.”
“I love you, Kylie.”
Kylie smiled shyly. “Keep me alive inside you.” She leaned
over to kiss his forehead gently.
Then there was a flash…
“Live and love, Quatre.”
>>>@@<<<
He opened his eyes and gasped. He saw white blurs
moved within his vision before his eyes could adjust. His first sight was one
of his friends staring down at him with deep concern in their eyes. “Wh… where
am I?” he started to ask, wondering why his voice sounded so far away.
Wondering if it was indeed his voice.
Trowa took his hand. “You’re safe now, Quatre. We
thought we nearly lost you there for a minute.”
Then, the memory opened up like a dam. He began to
remember everything. The kidnapping, the prison, the drugs and the fake Kylie.
He bolted. “Kylie! She’s a fake,” he exclaimed, then surprised when his body
fell easily onto the bed. He felt like a rag doll.
“Easy, Quatre. We know about that,” said Trowa. “We
know that they’re all clones of us.”
But Quatre weren’t listening. His mind suddenly
remembered his dream. The last words Kylie had said to him, “Live and love,
Quatre.” It rang so clearly in his ears that he didn’t notice that a single
tear had rolled down his cheek.
‘Keep me alive inside you.’
‘I will, my love,’ he promised to himself.
“Let’s all leave and give Quatre some time to rest,”
he heard someone said. Duo?
He opened his eyes, after realizing that he had
drifted off. He was deeply touched seeing the reluctance in their eyes. He felt
sorry for making them so worried. “It’s okay, guys. I’m fine, really.”
“Yeah and that’s what you always said back then too,”
a new voice said and a blond woman in a white jacket entered.
“Erea,” he said, recognizing her. His sister looked
pale and tired. ‘What have I cost them? What have I almost cost them?’
he wondered, recalling his insistence to stay with Kylie.
“No, don’t do that,” said Erea, raising her voice.
She read his expression so well. “What happened to you was not your fault. And
it isn’t your fault that you got us so worried. It’s our choice.”
Quatre nodded, not wanting to continue the argument.
He suddenly felt very sleepy.
“What are you waiting for?” Erea said to the rest of
them. “My brother needs his rest and you’re depriving him of that.” With that,
she shooed them all out. All but Dorothy, who gazed at him with a smile on her
face.
“Hey,” she said. “You got me very worried there.”
Quatre took in her pale face and tired eyes. There
was a trail of dried tears on her cheeks.
“I guess I better go as well,” said Dorothy, seeing
Quatre unable to keep his eyes open.
But he stopped her with a hand on hers. “You cried
for me,” he said, surprised.
Caught red-handed, Dorothy’s hand flew onto her cheek
as she blushed. “Just a little,” she answered. She hadn’t been crying for quite
some time now. But now, it embarrassed her that she would cry again. She always
thought that it was a sign of weakness.
That was, until she met Quatre.
Hiding her red face, Dorothy started to move away.
She was startled when his hand refused to release hers. Questioningly, she
looked at him. “Quatre?” she asked.
“Stay with me,” said Quatre, weakly. He barely could
keep the words straight. “I don’t want to be left alone again.”
Dorothy didn’t know what made her heart suddenly
soar. Maybe it was the words, or maybe it was the look in his eyes, or maybe it
was the fact that they’d been separated for many months now. But one thing she
knew was that Quatre had never given her such look before. It was a look of
pure love.
“I’ll never leave your side, Quatre,” she said,
sitting down. But the words barely registered in his mind as he was unconscious
again.
>>>@@<<<
Her eyes flew open. Seeing the dancing screensaver
before her, she realized that she had somehow dozed off. Running a hand to wipe
out the cold sweat on her face, she tapped the keyboard to reactivate the
computer.
“Still searching,” she said to no one in particular.
‘I must have been asleep for a short while.’
She glanced at the digital clock beside her. She’s
due to report to Heero in a couple of hours but she still couldn’t get the
things that he wanted. Sighing, she pulled her wheelchair back. ‘No point
worrying about anything. Things will unravel on its own,’ she said to herself,
trying to ease the dull ache in her heart. The words had became the main
philosophy for her ever since she found out that she could never walk again.
Leaving the database to do its job, Sara wheeled
herself to her room.
>>>@@<<<
“So, they managed to save Quatre Winner AND the
colony,” said Winteridge, staring out at the stars before them. “Very
impressive. We’ve underestimated their resourcefulness.”
“But to get to every explosive without the means of
detecting them? That’s nearly impossible,” said Duo-clone. “We’ve
timed it so perfectly that they won’t be able to get to all of it in time. What
went wrong?”
“Perhaps they do have means of detecting
them,” Trowa-clone pointed out.
Wu Fei-clone turned to him. “You’re
saying that we have a traitor who gave them the information?”
“Or maybe the doctor that was treating Winner,” said Duo-clone,
looking at Kylie-clone.
The girl shook her head. “Not him. I left him in a
state where he couldn’t tell anyone about anything. Besides, he didn’t know
anything about the explosives. Only we know about them.”
“So, that would mean that we have a spy,” Duo-clone
concluded.
“Now, let’s not jump into conclusion,” said
Winteridge. “It’s much too early to decide anything. For now, I think that we
ought to give the Gundam pilots the credit for their resourcefulness. Let’s
pretend that they’ve somehow acquired the information on the location of the
explosives before we start making assumptions.” He then glanced at the man
behind him, standing in the shadows. “Don’t you think so, Instructor D?”
The man or Instructor D, as the clones knew him as,
nodded. “You’re quite right, Your
Excellency.” He turned to the people he trained. “Perhaps today you’ve all learned
the merit of patience and to be open to new possibility.”
Heero-clone, who had been quiet all the
while, nodded. He gave his comrades a look. “It is safe to say that we’ve
learned much today, instructor.”
“Good,” said Winteridge, leaning back. “Now, we will
sit back and watch our friends out there.”
“When will we make our move?” asked Quatre-clone.
“When our armies are ready. For now, it’s their move
now.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
