Breach of Protocol

By Selah

Chapter 1

It had been three hours since the Inn's previous guest departed. Two hours since the last check-in, and exactly twenty minutes since the last sensor check. Triginta decided to run the next sensor check now, rather than in ten minutes as scheduled. If her parents found out, it could get her in trouble, but Trig didn't think they would mind once they learned the reason. She had heard the static on the last sensor check, and wanted to see if it was still there. Static on the Inn's internal computer network was not a good thing. Perhaps she would do a full diagnostic later.

While running the check, Trig made sure the bookings were in order and then went to see that the household staff were doing their jobs properly. She hated having nothing to do while her mind ran through all the networks, so she saved the small jobs -- such as these -- for times when her mind was otherwise occupied.

Then she heard it -- much louder this time, though that might have been merely because she was listening for something. There was definite static, and Trig paused mid-stride to listen to it. She focused the inn's sensors on the sound and soon determined that it was not being generated by anything within the building. She could almost make out words, but nothing definite. She soon gave up trying and went about her tasks, planning to run a thorough check on her next break.

Two hours later, after four more routine checks picking up the same static, Triginta took her break. Grabbing something to drink, she went straight to the main computer room and began configuring the sensors. She could have done it through her implant from anywhere in the house, but she wanted to take a break from the draining constant input. She preferred the action of typing the commands, anyway. It freed her mind to think of other things, such as why the Inn's sensors would pick up static from an outside source.

"Hello," a sudden voice made Trig jump and almost choke on her drink. She spun around and prepared to sound an alarm.

"Who is it?" she demanded.

"Relax, Trig, it's me," said a young man as he entered.

Trig did relax, but only slightly. "Oh, it's you, Renjiro. I've told you before not to enter without knocking!"

Renjiro's dark eyes narrowed slightly as he smiled. "And I've told you not to sit with your back to an open door. We both make mistakes, it seems."

Trig sighed. Renjiro could be exasperating, and if it weren't for a long-standing friendship... She had yet to best Renjiro at an argument, so she decided this was as far as she would go today. No point in dragging out the inevitable. "Okay, you win. What did you want?"

"You, actually. You promised to go to lunch with me, and when you didn't show up I decided to come find you. What happened to make you miss our meeting?"

Triginta listened to her implant for a moment. Still there, and louder. "I can hear static in the network. I am trying to find out where it's coming from and what it is for. You know computers; maybe you can help me. Here, take this seat."

Renjiro did as told, then Trig showed him what she wanted done. With his help, the sensors were configured well before time for the next routine check. Trig linked to the network and focused on the frequencies with static. This time, it was much louder -- Trig felt a serious headache coming on -- and she could almost make out words. She fiddled with the computer controls till it was as clear as she could make it.

"There! On speaker," she said to Renjiro. He complied and listened with her. There was still a lot of static, but the words were now intelligible. "They must be using a frequency jammer," Trig said after a moment. "That's the only thing I can think of that might block my sensors."

"...epeat, are you there? Radio contact established," said a voice through the speakers. There was a pause, then "There must be something around here boosting the signal."

"Must be one side of a conversation," Renjiro said. Trig only favored him with a glare; she was too busy trying to pick words out of the remaining static.

"Do you read me?" the voice continued, after a lengthy pause. Then silence and static.

Trig looked at the time and was disappointed to find that her lunch break was over. She sighed and, saying good-bye to Renjiro, went back to work. She set part of her implant to working on unscrambling the frequency jammer while she went about her other tasks.

"Trig!" called Renjiro about an hour later. He ran toward her breathlessly. "I've been looking for you everywhere! Come listen!"

"Relax, Renjiro," Trig said. "What has happened?"

"They've come back and they're talking about something. Come listen!" Without waiting, Renjiro started running back the way he had come. Trig shook her head and followed, wondering what had happened. She assumed he was talking about the sensor static, and her assumptions were justified as she followed Renjiro to the computer room. But that didn't explain his strange behavior....

"Listen." Renjiro ignored her exasperated glance at his redundancy and turned the speaker/transmitter up so she could hear.

"...have to be next week. That'll give us enough time to prepare."

"Prepare what?" Trig asked. Renjiro shook his head and shrugged.

"I know, but the boss promised it would work out. You know where they are staying, right?"

Who? Trig wondered silently.

"Listen, my time is up. You know the plans; if anything changes, I'll let you know. Out."

With that, the static resumed, and Trig didn't hear any speaking for the rest of the day.

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Early the next morning, the strange radio transmission was the first thing Trig thought about upon awakening. She got up before anyone else and snuck to the computer room to run that full diagnostic. She figured that someone must have tapped into the Inn's outside lines somehow.

The previous night, Trig had found a static damper that she hoped would work. If it did, she should be able to hear better. If there was anything to hear. She clipped it onto her ear and tuned the sensors to the static. It did work, slightly, and there were the voices again despite (or because of?) the early hour. She listened intently.

"For the last time, here's the plan," a voice said in a fed-up tone. "If you weren't sleeping on the job last time, you would have heard. ... No, I don't care what happened. Just listen to me. Ok. ... Yes, this line is secure. You think I'd be using it if it wasn't? Look, do you want to hear this or not?"

Trig had to hold back a laugh, but at the same time she hoped the speaker wouldn't get so fed up that he'd cut the conversation short. It was almost time for her to begin the day's work, and she didn't have time to sit and wait. She impatiently listened to the now-faint static while the person on the other end of the line spoke. He or she apparently placated the main voice, as it continued in a few moments, much to Trig's relief.

"Okay, for the last time, here's what we're doing. Three of the pilots will be going to Colony Cluster L4 for the next few weeks. We know where they'll be, so I want you to take care of the other two -"

Three? Other two? Trig tried to make sense of it...

"- They'll be on Earth, at that Cinq Kingdom, not far from where you are now. We'll be striking exactly one week from now; remember it! I want you in place and keeping them under surveillance in four days. I'll give you the exact time of the strike when we get closer to the time. We don't have a chance if they're all together, but perhaps we can get rid of them one by one. It'll be easier if they're separate to start with. Did you get all of that? Repeat it to me. ... "

Trig sat back in stunned silence. Had she really just overheard a plan to assassinate five pilots? And which five? The way they were talking, there must be only five... and with that thought Triginta shuddered. There was only one group of five pilots that she could think of -- the Gundam pilots.

She had to warn them! But how? Trig had never met them, and they didn't know she existed. If she just went up to them and said "Someone's trying to kill you" would they believe her? She had no proof other than what she had heard -- if only she had thought to make a recording of the conversation -- and they were famous now anyway. They probably had bodyguards.

Trig's mind was in turmoil for the remainder of the day. She knew that she wasn't working well, either. She greeted the day's guests with little more than "Please come on in", and the household staff looked at her strangely whenever she passed. But as the day came to a close, Trig was no closer to a plausible solution than she had been that morning.

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Author’s note: This is part one of what will hopefully be a fairly good, involved story. It is, however, my first long fanfic. Comments and suggestions will be appreciated, and can be sent to Noelle1006@aol.com.

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and all characters thereof are copyrighted to many people, none of which is me. This is a fan work, and as such makes no such claims on the characters. I am not making any money from this.

Triginta and the Inn, however, are my own creations and as such cannot be taken without express permission.