*stretches*
Jan. 27th, 2006 11:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
keire_ke*ponders* Well, this is going well. Not for Heero though.
Turned out yesterday that a part of the Write for Life module is rescheduled for Friday morning, and only two hours instead of three, because some genius gave the tutor two different classes at the same time. *headdesk*
The command centre was, luckily for Heero, relatively unmodified. The passwords had been changed, but he had installed the system – he knew it inside and out. In no time at all he was waltzing through the backdoor, downloading the feeds from several strategically positioned surveillance cameras.
Duo was unconscious when he left the premises. There was no camera in his study, but several along the corridor caught a limp figure with a long braid over a Type D’s shoulder. Really, it was almost pathetically easy to track their progress throughout the halls and into the lift. It was after they stepped in that the problems started to crop up.
There was no feed in the databank from the external cameras since eighteen hundred. Nothing whatsoever. Not even static.
“I, for one, dislike it,” Heero muttered to himself. He got started on the preliminary system examination procedure, when he remembered that the case was not entirely personal, no matter how he felt about it at the moment. He needed to contact Commander Une. It was a work of a minute to get a spare portable computer connected to the internet and running. It took another minute for Heero to realise an electronic message was not going to cut it.
“Shit. I need to get outside.” Emails, as he was well aware, left too many traces. Encoding, erasing traces and blocking any spyware would take too much time. Calls between restricted cell phones, on the other hand… Of course, the risk of a leak was still there. Granted, there might’ve as well been no risk whatsoever, he had delivered Duo to doctor Jin on a silver platter, but better be safe than sorry.
He jogged through the corridors and to the lift. The panel was left uncovered, which did not sit well with him. When the door opened at the first touch to the button, he knew something was very wrong. By design the lift stayed where last used, which in the present situation did not make much sense. The house was empty save for himself and Relena. There was no way to stay inside and escape the cameras or heat detectors. Nevertheless, Heero stepped into the small space and keyed the ‘go up’ command.
Nothing happened, except for the small screen flashing a “ascent impossible, unknown failure” message. The policeman stared. Ascent impossible? What the fuck did that mean? Frustrated, he punched the code for opening the door.
At that point he shouldn’t really be surprised that the door remained as they were. What he had not expected, however, was a sudden draft from behind his back. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he growled, watching as the back wall of the lift raised and revealed a narrow corridor, with a multitude of lights flickering into life.
Almost casually his right hand found the gun tucked into his trousers. Other safety measures like inching forward slowly, one toe at a time, were conveniently ignored. Heero jogged through the unfamiliar escape at a pace that demanded little physical exertion but moved him along reasonably fast, even though the passage was going up steeply. Within five minutes he was standing at another slide door, though this one operated by a very simple system of controls.
“Open, close, lock-unlock? They sure didn’t bother,” he snarled pressing the third button, followed immediately by the first. The door refused to budge. Glaring impatiently, he pressed the two buttons again, and was rewarded with a soft whoosh. The door slid apart, admitting him into some sort of an empty cellar. The only thing that offered any consolation was a trapdoor on the ceiling and no ladder in sight.
Glancing back to make sure he could get back if necessary, Heero stepped underneath the trapdoor. The ceiling was low enough for him to be able to touch the obstruction with his fingertips. It took a little effort and some crazy jumping, but eventually the trap hit the floor on the other side of the hinges. Pulling himself through the opening was a piece of cake.
Sure enough, the ladder decorated the floor. Heero snorted. He recognised this place vaguely – it must have been the apparently useless shed he always wondered about. The door opened with just one solid kick and reparable damage to the lock and, sure enough, he could see the sky, as well as the hedge that marked the borders of Jin’s property.
It was still dark, but far in the east a smudge of grey coloured the sky, only partially obstructed by smoke. The police officer stared in disbelief. The part of house built above the ground level was obliterated, down to the very last brick.
Breathing deeply, Heero punched Une’s private number into his phone. He had of course realised that it was unlikely for the woman to have her business cell on at this time of the night, but he could afford delay. Then again, considering the night’s progress so far, he really shouldn’t be surprised that despite the hour the phone was picked up immediately.
“Hello?”
“Commander, Yuy here.”
“… good to hear from you. You picked a most unearthly hour to call, I hope you realise.”
“What? Commander! Listen, I need backup immediately, Duo’s gone and I’m pretty sure my father is involved, somehow.”
“I’m sorry to be the one to deliver the news, but I’m afraid officer Yuy was killed tonight,” he heard his boss reply. For a few seconds he stared at the device, disbelieving.
“Ma’am-”
“He was visiting his father with a friend, both of whom also perished in the bombing.”
“Commander, the main building is underground, whatever happened-”
“The funerals for all three are scheduled for next week,” a firm tone Heero was most accustomed to hearing interrupted him. “Local police had found the bodies. Badly mangled and burnt, of course, but the DNA analysis confirmed their identities without any doubt.” Dimly Heero heard the sound of a door being closed in the distance. The woman’s voice dropped several notches. “I am so sorry that you’re being left alone.” He didn’t answer. His head was swimming, without any hope of drawing a breath anytime soon.
“Luckily, the suspect has been identified,” Une continued quietly. “Unfortunately, not soon enough – one other had died in a bombing yesterday. A colleague of doctor Jin, doctor Gerard Gene.”
“He knew about Duo!”
“It’s sad that so many brilliant scientists perished recently,” the commander sighed on her end of the connection. Heero puzzled over the comment for a second, before remembering that his father had mentioned his research team once or twice. The names, unfortunately, never came up.
“Shit. There is no way you can get me some backup?”
“I know how you must feel, but we have solid evidence that it was indeed Heero who perished in the explosion.”
“Is it the kind of evidence that would had me comply with whatever it says?”
“I’m afraid so,” Une replied gravely.
“Then Duo is dead as well.”
“Yes, since neither of them had any remaining family, the state will handle the funeral arrangements. The case is now being closed, officially. I’m still at the station.” Well, that made sense. In context. Heero clenched his eyes shut.
“Goodbye commander. It’s been a pleasure serving under you.”
“Goodbye…” The connection was cut. The ex-policeman stared at the small device for a few seconds. Just when had his life got this complicated?
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-27 11:30 pm (UTC)more soon please.
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Date: 2006-01-27 11:41 pm (UTC)I will try and do my best. *beam*
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Date: 2006-01-27 11:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-27 11:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 02:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 08:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 07:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 08:04 pm (UTC)Knowing Heero, blow something up. :D