The Fifth Star
Part One: The Mobile Suit
Duo would be back in fifteen minutes.
Quick fingers ran over a keyboard, deftly erasing information from the
computer mainframe. Prussian blue eyes only half focused on the
information running over the screen; but then again, Heero Yuy could do
this kind of thing in his sleep.
"Heero. Everything coming along well, I trust?"
The boy didn't need to turn towards the door to know whose voice that
was. "J. Everything's going as expected."
"No less from my protégé."
"Former protégé." Heero inwardly groaned, if only
shortly, at the annoyance the good doctor presented. He wondered how
the five scientists that had built the gundams made it out of the war
alive. He also wondered if any one would prosecute him if he did the
job the war couldn't. The scientists were, after all, war
liabilities... but that thought just bought him back to the task at
hand. "In roughly five minutes I'll have erased all data on the gundam
mobile suits. No one will be able to build one again, at least not from
your designs."
J snorted indignantly, more so than he usually would given the fact
that he realized Heero took pleasure in taunting him. "What a waste."
"I can't say I'm not impressed, though. How G developed such an
advanced stealth system and a thermal weapon that can actually function
underwater is beyond me."
"You know, G's not the only genius around." J huffed away, no doubt
insulted by the unsaid dismissal.
Heero almost smiled, again left alone to his own devices. But he
couldn't help but sneak a glance at the clock in the corner of the
computer screen.
Ten more minutes.
Heero leaned back in the wooden chair, letting the computer take care
of the last details. He wondered how he would approach Duo. Wondered
how the cobalt eyed boy would receive his proposal. During the first
war... well, then it had been stress relief, as Duo had called it, and
Heero had never protested. Then between Treize and Mariemeia's
respective plays for power it had been casual sex, whenever they were
in the same area. The significance wasn't lost on Heero that Duo had
been the only person he trusted enough to give his address to. He had
explained it before by saying some one would need it, in case he was
needed again, but... he realized he held Duo in higher regard than any
one else he had encountered during the war.
Five minutes until Duo would arrive at headquarters.
Heero stood up from the computer, finished now, and made his way to the
port. Duo and Quatre should be back from destroying the gundams soon.
He ran through multiple possible tactics in his head, analyzing to see
which one had the greatest chance of actually convincing Duo to move in
with him.
Flattering. Duo. I respect your cheerful joie de vivre in most
situations and your determination, focus, and intelligence on the
battlefield. I'd like to be able to enjoy that personality all the time.
Financial. At the economy's current rate of inflation rent on a single
bedroom studio apartment will become impossible to pay. It might be
easier if we were paying it together.
Strategic. If a war breaks out, it will be easier for the Preventers to
locate us if some of us were living together.
Boyishly honest and endearingly insecure. I think that you know that I
think you're cute, and, well, I was wondering if you might want to live
with me for awhile.
Heero realized Duo might not buy the last one, though, especially since
he wouldn't be able to summon the obligatory pout and wide eyes that
could make it work. It would probably be best if he was curt... just
ask and see what happened from there.
"Heero, man, you okay?" Duo blinked huge eyes at his peer, slightly
disturbed as Heero looked back at him with a confused expression. The
stoic pilot had been standing in the entrance ever since he and Quatre
had gotten out of their car, looking completely dazed.
"Is there something we can do for you?"
Heero looked over at Quatre, reading the worried expression there,
before turning back to stare at Duo. An awkward silence passed between
the three, and Heero could swear he heard crickets in the background.
But then, it was the middle of the day.
"No." He said, almost hastily, before turning around to leave the room.
"There's nothing."
Duo scratched his head as Heero left. "Weird guy."
Quatre only nodded in agreement.
Just a few yards down the hall Heero had stopped to lean against a
wall, evaluating the situation to see where he had gone wrong. Why
hadn't he asked? True, Duo had caught him off guard, but that was no
reason for mission failure. Could he be... nervous? Hearing approaching
footsteps from the port, he decided to drop the issue for now, running
back to his room for further assessment.
Duo stared down the empty corridor before turning to Quatre. "Why did
Heero just run away from us?"
Quatre shrugged. "He's your boyfriend."
* * *
Trowa Barton stared at the screen, awe written in his eyes. Space was
beautiful, but easily taken for granted in their situation. Now,
though, images of space surrounded him in the Preventer's lab,
displaying gorgeous star clusters and black holes.
"What's that?" He pointed something out to Wufei, a small light on the
screen that looked akin to an explosion. His training had left him
bereft in areas like astrology, but Wufei, as a scholar, might be able
to tell him.
Wufei looked over at the almost non-discernable dot, growing smaller by
the minute. He motioned at a nearby technician, a man who was obviously
annoyed by their presence. "Could you zoom in on that blue light?"
Trowa watched as the light grew bigger, than faded altogether. "It's
gone."
"Odd." By now the technician had joined them, intrigued at the strange
object. "I've never seen anything like that before."
The man pressed some buttons on the control panel, and the two
teenagers were treated to the sight of the explosion in reverse, when
they felt two hands on their shoulders.
"I think you boys should go now, we have research to do. This is quite
an exciting find."
Wufei nodded up at the affable scientist, even while walking with Trowa
to the exit. They turned towards each other as they were all but pushed
through the door.
"So," Trowa said, "I take it you don't know."
* * *
Heero pretended to be reading the latest news reports on his computer
even as he tracked Duo's movements on the other side of the room. The
other boy was packing. They'd have a celebratory dinner, then Duo would
be gone, unless he asked him soon. Well, actually, it wasn't as if he
would never see Duo ever again. He did know where the braided boy lived.
"Duo?"
Duo looked up from his suitcase, smiling in a distracted manner. "Yeah?"
"I-"
"Heero! Duo!" The door to the two's room popped open, an enthusiastic
Quatre appearing on the other side. "You have to come and see this. It
might be the find of the century."
Quatre raced back out into the hallway, leaving the other two boys to
scramble to catch up.
"They're sending some one to pick it up now. It's amazing, really,
we're all dying to know it's history."
"Quat, wait up." Duo ran to the blond boy's side, wondering why he was
being so hasty. "We don't even know what you're talking about."
The three boys skidded around a corner, almost crashing into the
automatic door there before it opened and they fell into a large room.
Quatre stopped them, catching his breath even as he pointed at a large
screen.
"That. That is what I'm talking about."
Heero walked through the crowd of people assembled at the room, staring
up at the video playing in front of them. It was a five second shot, on
loop, of outer space. He vaguely registered the excited voices around
him, and Duo's presence to his right. He deduced that the object of all
the turmoil was in the middle of the video shot: a very intricate, very
black hulk of metal.
"It's a mor... a mobile suit."
Heero turned at Duo's voice, then looked back at the screen. Sure
enough, he could see it, embedded it the center of the massive thing, a
mechanical figure. He realized then that the rest of it resembled
smooth wings, stretched out domes that were bigger even than the main
body.
"That's right, boy." Heero's head snapped around at G's voice. The old
man was standing next to that scientist, the doctor working at the
Preventer's space lookout station. Technically, the place was used to
look out for any unusual political activity, but the technology they
had was so advanced it wasn't unusual for independent scientists to ask
to use the equipment as well. "We think it's from another world."
Duo was staring at the shot with an intent look on his face, something
Heero recognized from battles and school. "Do you?"
"It's not from our world, that's for sure. You see, there are lots of
star systems out there like ours, with planets that could very well
contain civilization. When a star is born, its light travels at the...
well, the speed of light, to reach us. The problem is that by the time
that light reaches us, and we can actually see the star and planets on
our equipment, the star and any civilizations rotating around it are
long burnt out and dead. That's why the idea of meeting alien life
forms is impossible. There's nothing that can travel faster than the
speed of light, after all.
"Of course, there's a theory that space travel on that scale is
possible, except it would require the manipulation of tens of
dimensions. Humans are only familiar with three: length, width, and
height. The explosion that resulted in that mecha being here leads us
to believe that the people who built it are indeed familiar with other
multiple dimensions. It was unlike anything any one here has ever seen."
Heero frowned, wondering if the scientists weren't making to many
assumptions. But then again, this was their field, not his. "Do you
believe this, Duo?"
Duo turned at the question, an unreadable expression on his face, but
didn't answer. "Is some one going to pick it up?"
G nodded. "A troop of Preventers, along with Wufei and Sally, are on
their way now."
Duo nodded, then smiled, the lopsided grin Heero was so familiar with
making its way onto his face. "I guess we can talk about it later,
then. Right now, I'm starving. Is the big celebration still on?"
"Sorry, Duo." Quatre smiled in apology. "The government's cancelled it
in light of this commotion. The mess hall's still serving dinner,
though. Care to join me?"
"Yummy." Duo wrinkled his nose, an action belying his comment. "Heero,
you coming?"
Heero nodded, joining his two comrades as they made their way out of
the room. He had just stepped out of the door when a hand clapped his
shoulder, and he turned around to stare into J's mechanical eyes. "Yes?"
"I'd just like to talk to you a moment."
Heero turned back to address his friends, waiting for him a few feet
away. "I'll catch up with you guys later."
Duo nodded. "See you there."
Heero stepped back into the room, waiting for whatever J had to say.
"So, Heero, what do you make of the situation?"
Heero shrugged. "It doesn't seem as though I have the expertise to make
anything of it."
"That may be, but if that is a mobile suit, and it is from another
world, there's no guarantee that it will be empty. Just watch out,
Heero, and if it's needed I still remember how to construct Wing Zero."
Heero's eyes narrowed, just a little annoyed at his ex-mentor's
instructions. "Duly noted. I trust G remembers how to build Deathscythe
as well?"
Heero stepped past J to the other scientist, effectively dismissing the
older man. "The cloaking device, underwater thermal weapons, now those
are truly strokes of genius."
G turned toward the boy, smiling, even as J bristled. "Thank you, my
boy, but I sorry to say I've never developed a thermal weapon that
could work underwater. That's a feat of impossibility that probably
won't be conquered for a few dozen years."
Heero blinked. If G didn't do it, how did Duo manage to... shaking his
head, he decided it wasn't that big a deal any way. The black market
had always been ahead of conventional science, Duo could have gotten
the technology any where. He left the scientists, then, leaving the
room and following the path Duo and Quatre had taken.
The Preventers headquarter was strangely beautiful, and even Heero Yuy
wasn't going to take it for granted. The outer hallways weren't lined
with metal, but with a special glass polymer, meters thick and stronger
than most any material. It offered a beautiful view of space, and it
was the path Heero took that day. Blue lights lit up the corridor, a
counterpoint to the black and white of the world outside.
Heero enjoyed the scene from the corner of his eyes, more focused on
getting to his destination. He wasn't entirely prepared, then, when
something that felt like an earthquake or a huge crash jolted him off
of his feet. He landed with his back against the glass, his head
hitting on the hard pane. Trying to shake off the distinct pain, he got
to his feet and gripped onto the railing. The lights had gone out...
everything was so black... his vision returned to him momentarily,
however, when he happened to look out the glass walls.
Black metal was stretched along the exterior of the ship, running the
length of the hallway and effectively blocking the light of any stars.
But it wasn't the metal that stunned Heero, but the sight directly in
front of him, as he found himself staring into massive glowing green
eyes. The alien mobile suit.