December 24, AC 201; 4:32 PM Local Time, Office of Police Lieutenant James Werner, 3rd Precinct A01PD, L4-A01
“I swear, the way people fawn over her every move, you’d think she was still the Queen of the Earth Sphere.” Une suppressed the urge to roll her eyes as the commander in chief grumbled on the vidphone screen from his presidential mansion in Brussels.
“You forget that she could easily reclaim that title at any time, Mr. President. That is, if she ever wanted to,” she qualified at the last minute. “There are billions of people on Earth as well as the Colonies who would happily live under her rule. If she hadn’t dropped out of the 200 election she’d be sitting in your seat right now.” She smirked under her mask before adding, “Even you can’t deny the sway she holds over the people.”
“What about these terrorists?” he asked gruffly, changing the subject. “What do we know about them?”
“Well, Sir, at first we believed the threats originated from the Intraspherical Tribunal for Unpunished War Atrocities–”
“Yes, this kind of attack is right up the alley of those glorified vigilantes.”
“However, new evidence suggests that the true perpetrators are only hiding behind ITUWA’s reputation while pushing a separate agenda.”
“And what evidence do you have to support this theory?” The white-haired politician was clearly disinclined to admit anyone but a known party was responsible.
“ITUWA has never before threatened violence against any one person. They have only leaked names to the press along with whatever incriminating evidence they have. They try individuals in the court of public opinion. This latest threat against the Vice Foreign Minister is a stark departure from their accepted modus operandi.”
“What about the courthouse in New London they set on fire? And the smoke bombs in the prisons all over the L1 Cluster on the anniversary of the Brisbane Trials? This is a violent group, Lady. They always have been.”
“Yes, but those acts were all concerned with aesthetics,” she reminded him. “You’ll recall that not one person was killed in any of those incidents.”
The president sighed and rubbed his temples, a signal of concession. “So they’re not who we thought they were.”
“No.”
“Do we know anything about this group pretending to be the ITUWA?”
“Not yet, Sir.”
“Please tell me you have some good news.”
“Last night we were finally able to secure the leak in the Preventers.”
“Great! Only took a week and a half! And God knows how long ago the mole’s been inside!”
“True, we do not know to what extent our organization has been compromised, but we believe she might have information that could help us tap their communications. Unfortunately, she is extremely loyal to the group and the interrogation process is going slowly. Our technical investigation team is examining the communications devices found in her possession as we speak.”
“Une, how dangerous is this group?”
“Very.”
“How could they have grown to such an extent right under our noses?! Why didn’t the Preventers catch this?!” the president clapperclawed at the vidphone.
“They are not following the typical formula of a terrorist group. They are not funneling unusual or dangerous chemicals or developing large amounts of superior metals. In short, they’re not sending up the typical red flags. I don’t know what their objective is, but it does not seem to be military. At least, not in the modern understanding of the term.”
“I’m sick of these radical groups popping up all over the Earth Sphere! You better clean this mess up before they have the chance to make good on their threats, Lady!” The president brusquely closed the call, leaving Une fuming with cumulative frustration.
“I should have handed the matter over to Duo. If I had, we would have their transmissions decoded by now. And we wouldn’t be reduced to just sitting here, waiting for them to make their move.”
Abruptly, the office door opened and Une’s eyes shot up to give whoever had dared disturb her a wilting glare. She was mildly surprised to see the lieutenant of the precinct standing in the doorway, but did not dampen her glare. The middle-aged man whose office she had temporarily usurped was unfazed and his face remained stoic and inscrutable.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, ma’am, but something has happened.” Une straightened and waited for the man to continue. He stood in silence a moment longer before clasping his hands behind his back “There has been a terrorist attack against the Winners.” He paused, took a breath, and went on. “At the mansion where you’ve been staying.”
“When?”
“Just a few minutes ago. While you were on the phone with the president. We’ve already sent all our available units and the fire department is on its way.” Ignoring him, Une picked up the phone again and began dialing.
“They are going to be joined by Preventers. Expect them to arrive at the docking bay in thirty minutes or less. Meanwhile, I’m ordering the suspension of all outgoing craft. Get on the radio and the phones; send suits if you have to. Make sure the attackers don’t leave the colony. If anyone gives you a hard time, tell them to file their complaints to the Preventers Headquarters in New London. Yes, it’s Une,” she said into the phone. “We have a situation.” She looked back up to the lieutenant. “How soon can you get a helicopter to take me over there?”
*
December 24, AC 201; 4:32 PM Local Time, Sirius Hotel, L4-A01
“Found anything yet?” Zechs asked immediately, even before he was entirely inside the hotel room. Lucrezia just rolled her eyes and kept typing.
“Who do you think I am, Duo Maxwell? I’m about as good a hacker as your average highschool techy.”
“You’re still better than I am,” he admitted, shrugging off his coat and tossing it on the bed, then sitting down beside it.
“Well, I doubt Relena hired a highschool student to hide these files. I’m sorry Zechs, but they’re just out of my reach. Looks like your gonna hafta do it the old fashioned way and ask your sister.”
“You think she’ll forgive me after I –” Zechs was unexpectedly cut off by a thunderous boom that shook the hotel all the way up to the twenty-second floor where they were staying. Startled, Lucrezia gripped the edge of the desk while Zechs grabbed for the wall. The tremor passed almost as quickly as it had come and Lucrezia and Zechs were left staring at each other. After the initial shock wore off, Lucrezia jumped up and over to the sliding glass door of the balcony.
“Oh my god,” she whispered, barely loud enough for Zechs to hear.
“What? What is it?” Instead of answering, Lucrezia yanked the door open and stepped out onto the snow-covered cement. Stunned, she turned back toward the room with wide eyes.
“The mansion,” was all she could get out before Zechs was beside her, gaping as she had been at the black smoke billowing up from the snow-white Winner estate.
“Jesus Christ. . . . They bombed the mansion.” Zechs didn’t stay dazed for long. Quickly slipping into his soldier’s persona, Zechs reentered the hotel room, dragging Lucrezia by the arm before plucking his coat from the bed. Following suit, Lucrezia went for her coat as well, only to be stopped by Zechs.
“No. You stay here. Call Une.”
“I have to go with you–” she started, only to be cut off by Zechs.
“Please, Lu. Please stay here so I don’t have to worry about you, too.” He kissed her quickly and was gone. Lucrezia took a long breath before sitting back down at the desk and picking up the phone. Her fingers deftly dialed Une’s personal mobile line and picked up an idle pencil to fiddle with while she waited for her friend to answer. After several rings, she slammed the phone down in irritation.
“This is crazy,” she muttered to herself before picking up the phone again and dialing the front desk. “Yes, hello,” she greeted hurriedly before the concierge could go through his script. I need the number for the ...” she glanced at a note she had scribbled down on the hotel stationery a few days earlier, “... third precinct police department.” She retrieved the pencil she had been fiddling with and prepared to take down the number.
“Madam, the explosion down the street has already been reported by hotel staff and a number of guests. Management respectfully asks that all guests stay in their rooms and let the proper officials handle the situation.”
“You don’t under stand. I’m with the–” the concierge suddenly closed the call before she could finish, leaving Lucrezia staring at a blank screen. She fairly growled and jumped up from her seat at the desk, heading once again for the closet and her winter coat.
*
December 24, AC 201; 4:32 PM Local Time, Winner Estate, L4-A01
There was a great flash of light that dispelled the holographic sky, momentarily revealing the metal ceiling of the colony, the sight of which made Hope stop dead in her tracks and turn around toward the source. Less than a second after the flash, a deafening explosion sounded from the other side of the trees through which she had just been running. Hope squealed and clamped her hands over her ears, squeezing her eyes shut against the noise.
“What was that?” she shouted.
“I- I dunno,” came the quiet response. Hope opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder at the older boy. He was watching the darkening forest behind them with wide eyes and seemed scared. “I think we’d better get to my house quick though.”
“No! I wanna go back!” she screeched, stepping away from him and making as if to backtrack through the woods.
“No! You can’t!” he said, grabbing her arm. “You’ll get lost!”
“I don’t care! I’m scared!” she whined, yanking her arm away. “I want my mommy!” She turned and ran from him then, not really looking where she was going, but running blindly through the darkening woods.
She ran for what seemed like forever – until her legs were too tired to keep up the pace her fright demanded. She fell forward, catching a faceful of snow and collapsing into tears. She wailed loudly, hot tears melting the snow that clung to her face. Wiping her runny nose with the back of a mittened hand, she stood up, still crying profusely and hiccuping syncopatedly. Her booted feet dragged in the deepening snow as she slowly walked forward without a clear destination. She had gotten herself hopelessly lost, but was too proud to admit it, even to herself, and therefore simply kept walking with the vague hope that she might find herself back home or that someone might find her.
Eventually, someone did.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come back to my house?” Hope looked up from the ground and saw that the boy was just a few meters ahead of her, sitting in the snow under the mild protection of one of the L4 pines. She had run in a circle, succeeding only in wearing herself out and scaring herself more than necessary. When she met his eye, he stood and trudged over to her, dropping the snowball he had been smoothing while he sat. “My mom can take you back to the Winner place if you want once we get there.”
“Why can’t we go back now?”
“It’s getting dark really fast. Soon you won’t be able to see your hand in front of your face. It’d really be better for my mom to drive you back.”
“Ok,” Hope capitulated, exhausted and defeated. The boy extended his hand to lead her back through the forest, and Hope tiredly accepted the leather-gloved offering. “What’s your name?” she asked quietly.
“My name’s Cero,” he said, smiling again. “What’s yours?”
“Hope,” she answered meekly.
“C’mon, Hope,” he pressed gently. “Let’s go find my mom.” Cero began walking and hope easily fell into step beside him, allowing him to lead her through the thick wood that surrounded the entire Winner complex. Hope felt her exhaustion creeping up on her as they trudged, and she began to drag her feet. Cero slowed to keep pace with her, but didn’t stop.
Eventually they reached the end of the forest and were standing at the edge of a large open yard. Through the nebulous darkness hope could scarcely make out the outline of a darkened house. Instead of walking toward the house as she would have expected, Cero led her to the edge of the nearby road. A car was parked and running at the bottom of the hill on the shoulder of the road. A tall woman stepped out of the car, a heavy winter trenchcoat wrapped around her shoulders. She hastily dashed around the car and began trudging up the hill, despite her high heels. Hope had to assume the woman was Cero’s mother, as the woman rushed to him first, kneeling down and asking him if he was alright. Cero nodded and then the woman looked to Hope and said something, but Hope couldn’t make out the words – the syllables slurred into each other and the sentence kind of melted in Hope’s ears. Her vision began to swim and blur too, and then the darkness of the night seemed to creep into her eyes and stain her vision black.
*
“Good job, Cero,” the woman praised, holding up the unconscious girl by her shoulders. She slipped one arm around Hope’s back and hefted the child onto her hip as she stood while the boy glared up at her angrily.
“Who the hell gave Anya the go-ahead to detonate?!” he asked furiously while he tore off the leather glove on the hand that had been holding Hope’s. The woman reached into her pocket with her free hand and handed Cero a plastic bag, which he took and stuffed the glove into before removing the other glove and storing it with its twin.
“No one did,” the woman replied, annoyance clear in her tone. Cero removed the latex gloves he had worn under the leather ones and stuffed them, too, into the plastic bag before tying off the opening and stuffing the bag into his own coat pocket. “She got overanxious and set off the explosives before the order was given.”
Cero trudged down the hill and to the still-running car, opening the door for the woman to deposit the sleeping girl in the backseat. She walked around the front of the car and got behind the wheel while Cero climbed into the backseat next to Hope.
“She could’ve ruined everything, Avicenna!” Cero continued, glowering out the tinted car window and then at the sleeping child next to him. “I had the brat eating out of the palm of my hand until that explosion. If it wasn’t for my quick thinking, she would have run back and we would have lost our best opportunity.”
“How did you keep her from running off?” Avicenna asked, putting the car into drive and getting back on the road.
“I didn’t really. I just made sure she wouldn’t get anywhere while she ran. But as it stands now, it’ll be hard to build any trust, and if she becomes too obstinate, all our plans are as useful as her,” he nodded at Hope, “crayon scribbles would be.” He turned to glare at the older woman’s reflection in the rear-view mirror. “You know that without her, our entire mission is shot straight to Scheol.” With a melodramatic sigh, Cero flopped back into the seat. “That useless woman! How can you seriously expect me to work with such incompetence!”
“Look at it this way: that’s one less ‘incompetent’ in the Earth-sphere.”
“Yes. Thank goodness for that. If only all the imbeciles in this world were as easily convinced to strap bombs to their bellies. That certainly would make life less frustrating.” Avicenna hazarded a quick glance over her shoulder at their newly acquired tool. She frowned and turned her attention back to the road before responding to the problem at hand.
“Maybe if we keep her drugged she be more compliant. It worked with the others.”
“Yeah, and look what happened to them.” Cero twisted his head around to watch the fire trucks and EMT’s pass them in the opposing lane. “No. We’ve got to keep her lucid.”
“Whatever. We’ll let Cos figure it out when we get back to the base.” The methodic rhythm of a helicopter’s rotors shook the car’s chassis slightly as the aircraft passed over them, flying low. “Go to sleep – I’ll wake you when we reach the shuttle.”
*
4:43 PM, Local Time, Winner Estate
“Good god ...” Une whispered to herself, barely hearing her own voice over the deafening chop of the helicopter rotors. The southwest corner of the huge residence was obscured by thick black smoke, while the rest seemed enveloped by its own fog of pale, choking cement dust. The helicopter landed in the open field that was the Winner front yard and Une quickly climbed out, immediately reaching for her mobile phone and dialing rapidly as the helicopter took off again.
“Hello, Charles? This is Une. I need you to make a few calls for me. Got a notepad?” She covered the mouthpiece of the phone as a police officer headed toward her. “What’s the situation?” she called out to him.
“Suicide bomber,” he responded succinctly. “Drove a car loaded with liquid-explosives into the far corner of the building.”
“Hold on one second,” she said to the officer, returning her attention to her assistant on the phone. “Charles? Listen carefully. Call the president’s office and tell them that there’s been a bombing here on L4. We don’t know who did it, we don’t know who was targeted, we don’t know who’s alive and who’s not. All I know right now is it was a suicide car bomber. Call the Winners and tell them the mansion on L4 A01 has been bombed. Also call Mrs. Darlian and tell her the same thing. Tell both parties not to talk to the press about this yet. In about a half hour, call me again on this line and I’ll dictate a press release. But before you do any of that, call the Manager of Weather Systems for A01 and tell him to turn off this damn snow. Got all that? Remember: half an hour.”
Une hung up and dropped the phone back into her coat pocket and offered her hand to the police officer. “Sorry about that. I’m Lady Une of the Preventers.”
“Yes, I know who you are.” The two began walking toward the nearest police car. “Once the main fire is extinguished we’ll be able to focus on rescue efforts. We’ve already sent a suit to the Colonial Records Office for a blueprint of the building. Do you know how many people are inside, Lady?”
She shook her head, trying to remember. “Maybe ... ten or twelve people? Mr. Winner sent home most of the house staff for the holidays.”
“That’s very helpful,” he said, looking over the car hood at the crumpled building shrouded in concrete dust. Gesturing with his hands, he continued, “From here it looks like the first floor was reinforced in some way that has kept it from collapsing entirely. It seems highly likely there are pockets where survivors could be trapped. I’m more worried about anyone who might have been on the second floor, which appears to have collapsed totally.”
Une nodded, easily following the officer’s observations, having noted the same points. “I don’t think the Preventers will have any trouble working with local authorities if all the officers are as well trained as you are.”
“You’ve called in the Preventers? Isn’t that a little premature?”
“It’s strongly possible that this attack was the fulfillment of a threat issued a few weeks ago by an intraspherical terrorist organization. If that is the case, we need to get the Preventers up to speed as quickly as possible.” Before Une could elaborate any further her phone began to ring. Quickly answering it, une was surprised to hear the police lieutenant on the other end.
“Lady Une, we have a spacecraft illegally departing the colony at a small, Earthside dock.”
“What’s the nearest Preventer craft to that dock?”
“According to the screen in front if me, it’s Unit 087904.”
“Good. Connect me to that ship.” In a few heartbeats, her call was transferred to the communications lines of the Preventer ship in question. A familiar voice greeted her on the other end.”
“This is Unit 087904, over.”
“Captain Lanzarrote, this is Lady Une.”
“What can we do for you, Lady?”
“Do you have a small spacecraft on screen exiting from an Earthside dock?” Une stared at the ground while she talked, trying to avoid looking at the ruined building a few hundred feet away.
“Not right now, Lady but we did not five minutes ago.”
“Explain, Captain,” she commanded, not in the mood for riddles.
“The vessel seems to have hyper-jamming capacities. I dropped off our screen right before you contacted us.”
“Captain, if I remember correctly, your ship is outfitted with the new Canis Tracking System, is it not?”
“That it is, Lady.”
“Then head toward the last known coordinates of that craft before it disappeared and see if you can pick up a scent. Any questions?”
“None, Lady.”
“Good. You have your orders.”
“Right. Unit 087904 out.” Une turned off the phone and was about to drop it back in her pocket when she felt something nagging at the back of her mind. She looked up at the man still standing before her.
“Do you have any other questions to ask me, officer?”
He shook his head. “No, not right now. We’ll alert you when the rescue team is ready to go in.”
“That’s fine. I just need to make a few more calls. Do you mind if I use this car while I’m on the phone?”
“Be my guest,” he said, opening the driver’s side door for her. She slipped into the driver’s seat and he closed the door behind her, then began walking back to the crowd of firefighters trying to extinguish the main fire. Une watched his back as he walked away until she was sure he wasn’t coming back.
Tossing her phone onto the passenger’s seat, une leaned over the steering wheel and began to cry. She sobbed so forcefully, her body shook and her hands gripped the wheel with white knuckles.
“Oh God, what am I going to do?” She made a fist with one hand and hit the wheel as hard as she could, but her blow only bounced off. “Why? Why are you doing this to her? She didn’t do anything to you!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*