The Hit List
Chapter 6
By Starling
Mei sat in the hospital room, watching over her unconscious friend. The implant behind Arys’ ear was off, its indicator light black. For a few moments, Arys had been conscious, even if it had not been in their world. She wondered if Heero had been able to talk to her.
“How is she?” A voice invaded her thoughts, and Mei turned to see Heero and Wufei walk in, both looking worn. Heero had an impassive look on his face, one that Mei had not seen for a long time. She glanced over at her husband, and Wufei shook his head. Mei dismissed her observation, deciding to let Wufei take care of his friend.
“She’s not any better, not any worse. I can’t tell you how I felt when that light came on. I thought Arys was coming back to us,” Mei said, standing to her feet.
“Heero was able to talk to her, but...”
Heero grabbed Wufei’s arm, stopping Wufei from speaking. Through his emotionless mask, Mei could see his concern and even a little bit of fear. “Mei, I think Arys has somehow gone back.”
“Gone back to what?”
“To her life before... when she was with OZ.”
“But how? Why? She can’t have lost her memory.” Mei felt a sliver of worry creep through her, a worry that their friend might never come back.
“I don’t think she has. It’s just that being in the coma has forced her back into her old world.” Heero walked over to Arys’ bed and took her hand in his. “And there’s nothing left of that world. So, she has to rebuild it. That’s what she said to me. That she had to leave, to build. It was like coming home and finding the house empty.”
“I don’t understand. If she hasn’t lost her memory and she can communicate with us, then why doesn’t she come out of the coma?”
Wufei shook his head. “I don’t think she can, Mei. Maybe her body won’t let her, so she retreated somewhere else.”
“Her Gundam’s computer system,” Heero said.
Brekken eyed the man standing in front of him. “You want me to do what?”
“We will pay you double what your current employer is paying you.”
Brekken laughed. “No one has ever done what you’re asking me to do. Not OZ, not White Fang, not the Earth Sphere Alliance. I assassinate targets; I don’t change the world.”
The man shook his head. “You don’t realize, Mr. Wolff, that by executing these assassinations that you are changing the world?”
“Look, mister, I don’t know who you are or why you’re bugging me, but I do have other things to do besides beat around the bush with you.” Brekken’s good humor was fading fast. This man had intercepted his escape to a shuttle, and Brekken did not enjoy being surprised.
“We are called Veritas, and we are not asking you to kill anyone.”
“I know, I know.” Brekken waved off the man’s statement. “But you are asking me to kill a symbol of peace to both the colonies and the Earth.”
The man chuckled. “A symbol of peace? The Gundams? I think you are mistaken, Mr. Wolff. I will grant you that the Gundams are symbols to the colonies and the Earth, but not ones of peace.”
“Wouldn’t the Gundams be heavily guarded?”
The man shook his head. “We know where they are and they are not heavily guarded. Do you accept this assignment?”
Brekken didn’t like the way this man spoke. There was something inhuman about his vocal inflections. “After I complete my current assignment, talk to me again. I’m sure you won’t have any trouble finding me.”
“Time is very important to us, Mr. Wolff. We will find you again.” With that, the man turned away. Brekken watched as he disappeared down the road. Most organizations would go after the Gundam pilots, but this man wanted him to destroy the Gundams, something that no man or organization had been able to do. Even when the Gundams had been destroyed, they always came back, like ghosts. The Gundam pilots themselves had not even been able to destroy their machines.
But why would Veritas want to destroy the Gundams in the first place?
Arys walked around the newly-created apartment. It had taken her a while to build it, but with her Gundam’s help, she had been able to create an exact replica of the apartment in the real world. She sighed. There was only one thing missing. Her husband. Perhaps she would bring him here the next time he visited Archangel. She sat down at the computer desk and watched the screensaver. It flashed pictures of her and Heero across the screen every few seconds. Her only companion in this world was her Gundam. In this world before, there had been others, although most of them had been computer-generated. She tilted her head, looking at the computer screen.
“Archangel, do we have a connection to the network from this place?”
The answer that came back was affirmative. Apparently, her Gundam had been quite active during its time in the warehouse.
“Thanks, Archangel.” Arys smiled as she logged into the network. The computer in front of her may not be real, but the information she put into it was. With a flick of her wrist, she began typing an e-mail to her husband.
Heero tossed the football to Wufei. Wufei caught it and threw it back, looking thoroughly bored. Heero had to admit that playing football with Wufei was not high on his list of favorite things to do, but the rhythmic smack of the ball seemed to calm his mind somewhat. Soon, a few more men and more than enough teenage boys had joined them and they started a rough game. Heero was about to throw a fast pass to a boy on his team wearing a bright blue T-shirt when he saw her. His concentration was thrown off at the sight of her, and he felt himself hit the ground.
“Sorry, man, but you were there. What happened? Did you see a pretty girl?” The guy who had sacked him slapped him on the shoulder good-naturedly and walked off to be congratulated by his teammates.
“You could say that,” Heero whispered.
“What’s wrong, Heero?” Wufei asked him. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Hey, Heero, that’s your name, right?”
Heero turned to look at the guy who had sacked him. “Yeah.”
“It’s not 4th down yet; your team’s still got the ball.”
“Wufei and I are going to watch for a while.” Heero handed him the ball.
The guy shrugged and handed the ball to the boy wearing the bright blue T-shirt. “Here you go. Looks like you’ll be quarterback.”
Heero led Wufei off the playing field and stood under a tree by the sidewalk going through the park. “I think I’ve found our way of catching the assassin.”
Heero could tell that Wufei was wondering how Heero could have come up with a plan while playing football. “No, Wufei, he didn’t sack me too hard.”
Wufei just stared at him. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You were thinking it.”
“Um.” Wufei actually looked embarrassed. “Yeah.”
“She’s sitting over there.” Heero unobtrusively nodded toward a woman sitting on bench nearby, reading a book.
Wufei looked over at her long enough to get a quick once-over. “How is she supposed to be our way of catching the assassin?”
“Never mind. Let’s go talk to her.”
“What? We don’t even know who she is!”
Heero ignored Wufei’s exclamation and walked over to the woman.
“Excuse me, miss.”
Heero heard Wufei gasp in surprise when the woman looked up at them, her blue eyes curious.
“Yes?” She asked. “Can I help you with something?” Her glance flickered over to Wufei briefly and then back at Heero.
Heero smiled. “Actually, yes, you can.”
Wufei stared at her, trying to keep his shock from showing. Except for the blue eyes, the woman looked so much like Arys that Wufei had to do a double take. “Miss, what’s your name?”
The curiosity in her eyes switched to a bit of suspicion and worry. “My name is Kira Delayne. Why do you want to know?”
“Will you come with us, Miss Delayne?”
The suspicion deepened. “Why should I?”
Wufei sighed. Heero wasn’t handling this very well. He may not be showing his shock at seeing his wife’s look-alike, but it was showing in his bad handling of the situation.
“Miss Delayne, my name is Wufei Chang and this is Heero Yuy. We're Preventer Agents. We were wondering if you’d like to play the part of a Preventer Agent for us.”
