Chapter 8
Five perfectly manicured fingernails tapped slowly and rhythmically against a polished mahogany desk. Stern eyes stared through wire-rimmed glasses at the group of young pilots before her. Her mouth was set in a stern line.
"Frostbite," Lady Une began, "is defined as an injury caused by exposure to intense cold."
Sophia squirmed in her seat, uneasy from the gleam of rage visible in Lady Une’s eyes as they landed on each one of them.
"Imbecilic," she continued in a voice frosted with ice, "is the way that you handled your mission. Do you have any idea how you have compromised the mission?! Not to mention the life of one of your teammates!"
Wufei stiffened in his seat. "None of us would ever intentionally bring harm to Quatre. No one saw us until we reached the hospital and we continued surveillance until Quatre was found. It went without a hitch."
Lady Une stared at him for a few long seconds before casting her gaze across the row of pilots. "Who found him?"
Sophia swallowed, hard, and spoke softly and clearly. "I did."
Gently Lady Une set her elbows on the desk and laced her fingers together. "How do you know that no one saw you?" The chill remained in her voice.
"As I went out to find Quatre, I noticed that no one was moving about the base. When I finally found Quatre, a shuttle soon took of from the base. Later, when we searched the base, Heero set some bombs off. No one was located in our searches either. Ma’am."
"Why did you search the premises?"
"To find evidence of why they left."
"And did you?"
"Yes."
No one moved until Lady Une delivered a well-placed ‘Well?’ to Sophia. They all removed their findings onto her desk. Immediately, Lady Une’s eyes latched onto the pair of revolvers and bullets. Gingerly, she picked up one by the ivory butt and traced the carvings with her index finger and a faraway look came into her eyes. "I gave these to Treize on his 23rd birthday."
Her eyes locked with Sophia’s. "Mariemaia. I thought she was happy with the foster parents we found her."
"So did I, Lady. But apparently she wasn’t."
Lady Une stared a moment longer at them. "And who the hell gave that child fire arms?! I want answers! A full report, on this desk by 0800 tomorrow morning. Dismissed!" ***************************************************************************
Sophia exhaled sharply as she closed the door behind her. Dealing with Lady Une even when she wasn’t wearing her glasses was a challenge. Noticing the boys had visibly relaxed as well, she shot a grin at them.
"Well, now. That wasn’t so bad, was it?"
All four of them gave her a look and continued moving to the offices. The pistols soon began weighing heavily in Sophia’s pockets as fatigue sped swiftly through her body. The five reached the hallway with their offices. Turning toward the door, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Sleep for awhile," Duo whispered into her ear. His breath moved the hair hanging over her ears, tickling her as her other arm snaked around to open the office door. "I’ll wake you in a few hours."
She murmured a thanks in his direction, barely managing to get to her chair before falling asleep. ***************************************************************************
Sophia woke 3 hours later at the insistent shaking of her shoulder by Duo. She cleared her throat, and turned her head to stare at the digital clock next to her computer.
/9:20 pm. Great./
Blinking rapidly to clear her vision, Sophia turned to Duo.
"Report time?"
"Yeah." He shifted away from her and brought a nearby chair to her side. Duo then dropped a pile of printouts, audio tapes, and video tapes onto her lap. "This is what we have."
Catching the pile before it slid to the floor, Sophia glanced at Duo and Trowa’s findings from the base. She spun her chair to face her desk and placed the pile next to the revolvers, diary, and medication bottle.
"OK," Sophia started as she quickly flipped through tapes and files. "We have…surveillance tapes of the base from Trowa, communicator transcripts and audiobits from you, all our surveillance from the binoculars, the revolvers, bullets, medication and a diary."
She stopped, looked over at Duo, and then back down at the pile. "We are SO at ground zero here."
Duo sat back in his chair, crossing his legs at the ankles and putting hid hands behind his head. "Well, look at it this way. We won’t be killed at the hands of our enemies, we’ll be killed at the hands of crazy 2-personality psycho bitch for an incomplete report."
Sophia snorted and smacked him in the stomach. "She’s not that bad."
"Not that bad?! She had her glasses on! And she can put up her hair in those buns in record time!"
Sophia shot him a fulminating look, though it was laced with humor, and turned back to the pile. She picked up the audio and visual tapes and passed them to Duo.
"I’ll go through the transcripts and diary, if you hunt through the base surveillance."
Duo grimaced. "Deal."