The main hanger bay for L2-v08997 resembled a scene from a nightmare. Ships of all sizes and models were crowded into each bay, and there were more arriving, falling into orbit around the failing colony. The majority of the sweeper fleet had descended on the colony within three hours of getting the first distress call, taking over the evacuation with a grim efficiency that would have amazed him at any other time.
Trowa barely spared the scene a glance, concentrating on herding another group of frightened colonists into the arms of the crews lining the docking tubes.
"Sir... the last of the escape pods have been launched. Sweeper ship Infinity is tracking them down."
"Damn." He turned to Crowley. "How many?'
"Fourteen pods, sir."
Fourteen pods- even if all of them held the full 75-person capacity, that was barely a thousand people. Preventers in full riot gear had been stationed to ensure that the pods were filled in as orderly a manner as possible, and that no pod left the ring half full. But out of the forty pods on the ring itself... only fourteen had been launchable. He'd already heard reports that rioting had started among the colonists who had actually made it to the escape routes where the pods were, before the Preventers could restore order.
"How are the sweeps coming?" The local police and emergency forces were combing the streets, urging the stragglers towards the three functioning hangar bays and trying to look for those inhabitants that had gone to ground in the shadows. Remembering Duo's descriptions of life on the streets and the hiding places his gang had used... Trowa had no illusions that they would find even a fraction of the indigent in time. It had been four hours and they had barely a third of the population convinced that leaving their home was the only option.
Crews of sweepers were moving through each quadrant after the police, simply grabbing any living bodies that they came across and evacuating them by force. But it wasn't going to be enough. He could feel the change in gravitation already. In a matter of hours-- there were going to be bodies bouncing off the walls all around them.
"Sir, Quadrant Three is completely clear, though apparently a third of it had been uninhabitable and sealed prior to this incident. Quadrant Four, they haven't been able to restore emergency lights yet, but at last count, four hundred people had voluntarily evacuated using flashlights. Quadrants One and Two... no status yet sir."
"Keep at it..." Trowa turned away as his comm unit crackled. "Barton."
/"Quat's here. Howard is meeting us at bay 19. He thinks there's a way in."/
"On my way." Trowa started jogging back down the line of bays, threading his way through clusters of terrified colonists. "Any contact with Cryswell?"
"No. I'm sorry, Tro."
"Yeah." Disconnecting, he nearly tripped over a trio of street kids, dressed in rags and being herded into the crowd by two large sweepers. Damn, he thought grimly. I'm glad Duo isn't here now. He knew his friend would be agonizing over the ones they couldn't find.
A moment later, the kids managed to tear themselves free of the sweepers, running for shelter in the shadows. "Dammit..." Without pausing to think, he snagged up the one closest to him, hauling the struggling body off the deck with a growl. The child couldn't have been older than six, if that. Wide eyes that reminded him all too much of Duo glared up at him. He saw the other two hesitate, half turning back to look for their missing companion.
Trowa met the hostile eyes, seeing the fear there. "Hold still, dammit." The other two kids hovered out of reach, but they didn't abandon the one he still held, and followed him warily down the length of the dock.
"What the hell are you doing?" Heero asked, reaching his side in the crowd. With a start, he realized he was standing only yards from bay 19. Chang was standing at the mouth of the docking tube with Howard and a dark-haired Preventer Trowa didn't recognize. "We don't have time-"
"We can't leave them." Trowa met his lover's eyes with a pain he couldn't hide. "They're like Duo... they'll run and hide, and they'll die in the shadows."
"Tro- Someone else will get them..." Heero hesitated, and Trowa saw him looking around at the chaos around them. They both knew that the kids would be lost in the crowd within seconds. "Fuck. Give her to me. We don't have time to argue about it either..."
He hadn't even realized that he was holding a little girl until he passed her into Heero's arms. The two boys, feral eyes filled with helpless fury, backed away as he turned. He took a step towards them and watched them scatter.
"Leave them. We'll take this one..." Heero's voice gentled. "We have to save the ones we can, Trowa. If we make it to the control rooms... they might still survive."
Might. He turned away with a groan. Duo... I'm sorry.
They were halfway to the ramp when Howard stalked past them with a growl.
"Howard...!" Chang yelled after the man, but didn't follow. A moment later, Trowa was close enough to see that he was holding Relena in the tube with one arm around the Senator's waist. Heero glared at her, shoving the child into her arms and pushing both of them up the ramp.
Trowa hesitated only for a moment, torn between duty and guilt, before turning and following Howard. The old man had stopped just past him, facing down the two kids and holding something out to them. He caught a glimpse of the bright wrappers on the candy bars, and grinned a little as the two kids moved suspiciously closer to the man. The Sweeper eyed the kids, then to Trowa's surprise, tossed them the bars. Trowa half expected them to run once they caught the candy.
"You want more? Or you gonna let your little sister eat the rest?" The man taunted softly. The two kids looked at the bars, then each other. "Come on. You want your sister... you're gonna have to get on that shuttle."
Trowa held his breath. The kids looked back up at them... and then yelped as the unfamiliar Preventer circled behind them and grabbed each of them by the arm. Moving quickly, Trowa took one of the squirming kids from him before either of them could twist free.
"Let's go, Boys." Howard turned and stalked back towards the ship, straightening his sunglasses with a sigh. "You have a colony to save."
"Thanks Howie." Trowa hauled his protesting captive up the ramp after the old man.
"Don't call me Howie." The old man shook his head. "I don't care what Duo told you... the name is Howard. Got it?"
"Sure, Howie." Trowa noticed the other Preventer throwing him an odd look, even as they shoved the two kids into seats near Relena, who was still holding the little girl in her lap. The senator seemed oblivious to the stains from grimy hands as she rocked the child.
"Why couldn't we try to save more?" Relena glared at Heero. "There is room on this shuttle. People are going to die... and..."
"Relena-if we get to the core in time, we might be able to save a lot more people. There wasn't time." Heero glared at Trowa. "We didn't have time to save these three..."
Behind them, Chang closed the hatch and disconnected them from the docking ring. Trowa found a seat and belted himself in as Quatre detached from the bay smoothly. The three kids sat in wary stillness as the shuttle moved, all attempts to escape stilled by the knowledge that they were trapped.
"We're not leaving anybody, Relena." Howard shook his head. "Sweepers don't leave anybody behind."
"But..."
"Relena." She broke off, wincing at the sharp tone in Heero's voice. "It's too late to go back now. Howard... how do we get to the control room?"
"There's a small maintenance airlock about 50 meters from the main airlock. Apparently one of the crews left a way into that one on each of the colonies, just in case." He held up a small black box. "This transmits the signal to disarm the charges on the door. You'll have to go across in suits... the colony's rotation is too erratic now to try and match the umbilical for long enough for you to reach the control room and make repairs."
"We'd have to be in suits anyway, from what Trowa saw in L2- V08895." Heero nodded. "Then where?"
"That airlock... it's a level above the control room, right?" Trowa pictured the floorplans for the core in his head, grateful for the first time for having a nearly photographic memory.
"Right," Howard nodded. "You know the layout?"
"Unless this colony is radically different from L2- V08895."
"The differences are on the way through the core. You should be fine."
Heero eyed him steadily. "I don't want you going in, Trowa. I want you helping Quat with the flying."
"I've already done one set of repairs in a suit." Trowa shook his head. "I'll be fine. And you need me. There isn't going to be time to stop and look at a map, Heero. I know the plans. I'm going in."
"He's right," Howard sighed. "And you're going to be making your way in through the ceiling of the control room. You might as well take the gymnast with you."
"Fine." Heero muttered grudgingly. "Trowa, Chang and I will go in. Lowell, right? You'll stay here with Relena and Howard."
The man nodded silently.
/"We're in sight of the airlock. ETA for matching spin in seven minutes, guys."/ Quatre's voice echoed softly from the com. /"Get suited and into the airlock."/
"On our way, Quat." Heero nodded at them. Taking a deep breath and trying to ignore the odd feeling in his stomach, Trowa followed his partners to the shuttle's airlock.
"Ivan...?"
Cryswell groaned, rolling his head to the side and trying to see through the thick rime of ice on his faceplate. He could hear Frost to his right, through the roaring in his ears. They were in complete darkness. He tried to remember what had happened, but had only chaotic memories of the floor rippling beneath them as a shockwave slammed into them. Right before the lights had gone out completely.
"Sarge...?"
"Here." He struggled inside the bulky suit, and finally found the wrist light. The dim glow illuminated the hallway, and he caught sight of two suited bodies lying near him. "Status?"
"Head hurts like a motherfucker. What the hell happened?"
"Explosion." He rolled over and crawled towards the suit that wasn't moving. "Ivan...?"
"No good, Sarge. He's either still out, or dead." Brushing the frost away from the other man's faceplate, he saw Ivanovich's pale features were streaked with blood. But there was a faint fog on the glass above his mouth, and he could find no signs that the man's suit had been breached.
"He's alive."
"But if he doesn't wake up...?" There was an edge of panic in the other man's voice.
"Then we carry him," Cryswell sighed. "Try to reach the ring on the radio again."
"No one has answered for hours, Sarge."
"Keep trying until someone does, then." Cryswell turned to look at his companion. "Stay with me here, Frost. I need you. Do you hear me?"
There was silence for a moment, before he saw the man's helmet bob in a shaky nod.
"Good. We're going to get out of here, Frost. And we're going to find the nearest bar... and I'm going to buy you the biggest damn bottle of Tequila you ever saw. But only if you stay cool."
"I... yeah, Sarge. Okay." Frost picked himself off the ground, though Cryswell could see him listing to one side. Considering the condition of his own head, he was a little surprised that any of them were standing upright. "I'm cool."
"Get on the radio."
"Right. On it Sarge."
Only when he heard the low murmur of Frost's voice through the suit channel did he turn back to Ivanovich. Crouching next to the unconscious man, he checked his chronometer quickly. Shit. They had to have been out for at least three hours. The suits would not sustain them for much longer than another three hours. Four at most. Deciding that that was not information Frost needed to hear at the moment, he shook his head and reached for Ivanovich. Manhandling the suited body took most of his strength, and it was a relief when Frost moved over to take half the unconscious man's weight. Shining his light around the corridor, he found the trail of their footsteps back through the frost.
"Holy Mary, Mother of God in Heaven..." Frost's voice trailed off into silence as they took in the two large metal beams that had punched through the floor of the corridor behind them, effectively blocking the way back to the ring. "What are we gonna do now?"
"We're going to keep going... find that control room... and fucking call for help."
Duo looked up as Zechs nudged him, taking the cup of coffee the other man held out. The younger man had been oddly quiet, ever since Quatre had reported in that Heero, Wufei and Trowa were suiting up to head into the core through the outside maintenance airlock.
"He's going to be okay, Duo," Zechs leaned his head down to say softly, feeling Une's eyes on his back as he did so.
"Yeah. I know. But... in suits?" Duo shivered. "Trowa hates environmental suits."
"He's already worn one into the core at L2- V08895."
"Yeah... and that colony wasn't in danger of blowing up, either," Duo sighed. "I know, I know. I can't help it though. He's my friend." Shadowed eyes met his, and the young man winced. "Shit. Sorry Zechs. Relena's on that colony too. I'm being stupid..."
"Lowell, Howard and Winner will protect Relena." Zechs ran his fingers down the long braid, hoping Une couldn't see the slight movement. "It's okay to be worried. Just don't panic. Alright?"
"Right." With a shaky smile, the young man took a sip of the coffee. "Thanks, Zechs."
"You're welcome." Zechs sat back down in the empty chair he'd dragged in from the waiting area in front of Une's office. The five of them were cramped in the office, but Une had not asked any of them to leave, even though there was nothing they could do to help the situation from Sanck. They had been listening to the communications from the colony for the last few hours.
Dorothy met his eyes briefly from the table along the far wall. She and Sally had cleared it off enough for her to set up the laptop, though she was careful not to let even the doctor see what was on the screen at the moment. So far they had managed not to tell either of the two women that Epyon still existed, much less that it was in the office with them at the moment. Glancing back, he caught sight of Treize hovering behind Une's chair, his expression grim as he watched the monitor.
/"We're in the airlock."/ Heero's voice echoed in the quiet room, and all eyes locked immediately on the communication console. /"Cycling into the colony."/
"Acknowledged, Yuy. Be careful in there." Une's voice was calm, though her expression was grim.
There was no answer, only a soft snort from Duo.
Tbc