Scenes 16 thru 20 | By : shini0angel Category: Gundam Wing/AC > General Views: 397 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
Scene Seventeen: A New Vision
The price of greatness
is responsibility ~ Winston Churchill
The Vice Foreign Minister stared out the tinted
windows of her Mercedes in the back seat.
She was frowning to herself.
Dorothy’s trial was getting underway and the pressure she felt was
enormous. It was hard to keep going,
knowing that the people were so far against her.
Relena
picked up the latest set of news papers Aimee had provided her with before she
had enclosed herself in the back seat of the Mercedes. There were various articles about her support
for Dorothy. While none of the paper
actually said anything derogatory about her they came close. Some things needed to change. Perhaps another press conference was in
order.
“Miss
Peacecraft,” David said from the front passenger seat. “We’ve almost reached Quatre Winner’s
estate.”
“Thank you
David,” Relena responded.
She folded
up the newspapers and set them aside.
Carefully she picked at her skirt, straightening and smoothing the
minute wrinkles she found in the cream fabric.
She must always look her best because she was always on display. There was no down time for the Vice Foreign
Minister. And there was always the
possibility that Quatre had invited a few members of the press for the
luncheon.
Relena
pulled down the mirror and checked her simple make-up. She pulled out a tube of peach colored lip
gloss and carefully dusted it over her lips.
With a quiet sigh she donned her politician’s mask that of a carefully
cultured smile and poker face. She would
be the first to admit that her poker face paled in comparison to Quatre
Winner’s.
The car
slowed as it reached the guard house.
The driver rolled down the window.
“Hello Vice
Foreign Minister Peacecraft,” Abdul said.
“Is it all right if I catch a ride with you up to the house?”
It was a
reasonable request. Quatre’s driveway
was long, meant to impress and it certainly did just that.
“Of
course,” Relena smiled from the back seat.
“You can sit next to me.”
Abdul
nodded and got in on the other side of the car.
“Are there
any press up there?” Relena asked as soon as the car was rolling again.
“Only a
few,” Abdul replied. “Most of them are
associates of Master Quatre’s so there is no worry with having to impress
them.”
“The press
always needs to have an impression made on them,” Relena said.
She waited
until the car was brought to a stop near the stairs leading up to Quatre’s
front door. Abdul got out of the car
first, shutting his door and going around to the other side to open Relena’s door.
“I’ll
accompany you Miss Peacecraft,” David said.
David got
out of the car and walked around to escort Relena up the stairway to Quatre’s
mansion. Relena took his arm and allowed
him to lead her. She did not feel like
leading herself inside. Her nerves were
on fire. Everything felt so distant and
removed from her sphere of reach.
The big
door was opened by Rashid, another of Quatre’s personal guards who knew
Relena. He smiled at her and abandoned
his post to Abdul.
“Vice-Foreign
Minister,” Rashid inclined his head.
“It’s good to see you looking so well.”
“And you as
well Rashid,” Relena gave a polite smile.
“Please call me Relena.”
“This way
Miss Relena,” Rashid said gesturing down the hallway as he led the two. “Master Quatre has a few friends from the
press over. He’s speaking to them about
Miss Dorothy. He would like you to wait
in the small dining room. Master Quatre
will be joining you in another ten minutes.”
“He doesn’t
require my help in speaking to the press?” Relena asked with a slight frown.
“They are
ending their conversation,” Rashid explained.
“Master Quatre wishes to speak to you about a new idea that he has. He will join you and then a brunch will be
served.”
Relena
merely nodded. There was little she could
do at the moment. She followed Rashid
into the small dining room that was big enough to accommodate forty
people. For someone of her and Quatre’s
standing this was a small dining room, although it would be needed for a family
of Quatre’s size. The room was
tastefully decorated. The table was made
of a dark walnut as were the chairs. She
was not surprised to see that they were made of real wood.
The
Vice-Foreign Minister sat down on one of the cushioned walnut chairs near the
end of the long table. She was curious
to see what Quatre’s proposition would be.
Together they did make a formidable team, it had been proven time and
again.
The phone
in her purse gave a shrill ring. She
glanced at David briefly before pulling it out and flipping it open.
“Hello,
Vice-Foreign Minister Peacecraft,” Relena said into the phone.
“Vice-Foreign
Minister,” The caller said. “This is
Nils Sorensen, Miss Catalonia’s
attorney.”
“Hello Mr.
Sorensen,” Relena replied. “Please, call
me Miss Peacecraft. What can I do for
you?”
“I’m
calling with some information,” Nils Sorensen’s voice was very pleasant. “First off Miss Catalonia
wants me to remind you yet again that this is a dangerous undertaking. For you to help her could ruin your political
standing. However she understands your
need to help her and requests that you join forces with Quatre Winner over
this. It will make things much easier.
“Miss Catalonia
also said that the two of you are a formidable team when you work
together. A high compliment from her as
I’m sure you’re aware of. She also said
that you should gather other supporters to your cause, people who are
trustworthy. She is worried about you as
well Miss Peacecraft. She wants to know
if you are doing well.”
“Tell
Dorothy that I’m fine,” Relena did not smile.
“And that a little stress will not cause me to falter.”
“She will
be pleased to hear that,” Nils said.
“I’ll let you go Miss Peacecraft.
If I get any other news I’ll pass it along to you straight away.”
“Thank you
very much Mr. Sorensen,” Relena said.
“Have a pleasant day.”
She hung up
on him before he had a chance to respond likewise.
“Who was
that?” David asked; his tone let her know he was frowning.
“Dorothy’s
attorney,” Relena sounded tired but she quickly collected her thoughts. “He was giving me an update. He visited Dorothy a few days ago.”
David said
nothing. He did not have to. He may not have understood Relena’s
friendship with Dorothy Catalonia but he knew that it was important to her. That was the only thing that mattered. He served the former Queen of the World
because he believed in her dream of peace, because he no longer wanted to be
just another soldier who had killed.
“Thank you
for being here with me David,” Relena turned to him with a smile that even
reached her eyes. “It helps.”
“Anytime
Miss Relena,” David gave her a gentle half smile, the only thing he was capable
of.
Relena had
first hired David at Une and Quatre’s insistence. He had been a good choice, choosing to stay
under her employment even after the Dekim Barton coup. It had not been any oversight on David’s part
that had gotten her kidnapped. It had
been her own rash decision to rush off to that colony. She had sworn to never do that again both to
herself and David.
“Relena,”
Quatre said walking through the door.
“It’s good to see you. I’m glad
you could come.”
Relena
stood and embraced Quatre in a hug. She
pulled back and gave him a bright smile.
She was happy to see Quatre even if the visit was not a purely social
one.
“Sit, sit,”
Quatre said with a kind smile as he walked around the table and took the chair
opposite to her. “Is there anything new
that’s going on?”
“Nils
Sorensen, Dorothy’s attorney called me today,” Relena sat back down in her
chair. “Dorothy told him to pass along a
few compliments to us. She said that we
make a formidable team together.”
Quatre
nodded in approval. He knew how
Dorothy’s mind worked and Relena knew that if he was pleased it was probably a
good thing. Sometimes Dorothy confused
her utterly. Still she found Dorothy’s
humor and smart mind to be useful and helpful.
“I’ve been
thinking,” Quatre said slowly. “And
perhaps it might be better to go about this more aggressively than we have
been. I think its time we tried to get
other people on our side and involved in this.”
“Dorothy
suggested that as well,” Relena tucked some of her honey colored hair behind an
ear. “Who were you considering
contacting?”
“Trowa
Barton and Sylvia Noventa for starters,” Quatre fell silent as two trays loaded
with food were brought in.
The two
servants placed one of the trays in front of Quatre and the other in front of
Relena. A third servant came carrying
two glasses and a pitcher of juice.
After pouring some juice in the two glasses the servants left the two
young political allies and David alone.
“Trowa
would be good to have just because he’s another Pilot,” Quatre said. “Sylvia has the proper social standing we
might need. She has several connections
we could exploit to our advantage.”
Relena
nodded while picking at some of the food before her. She could see where Quatre was going. It was a good idea although it was
risky. But life was meant to be lived,
not studied. Relena decided it was time
to live.
“Let’s get
Zechs and Wufei in on this as well,” Relena suggested after a few moments. “Another Gundam Pilot and Dorothy’s former
commander who are now both top Preventer agents can’t be a bad thing. It would at least get the people thinking and
perhaps push the issue to the forefront.”
“A good
suggestion Rel,” Quatre beamed happily as he took a bite of fruit. “You can take the Preventers and I’ll get
Trowa and Sylvia.”
Relena
smiled. She knew just how to get in
touch with Zechs. She had hated the name
after the first war but she had understood his desire to hold onto it. Even though she felt that her brother should
be called Milliardo she respected his wishes.
She looked
up to Zechs. He was her older brother
and even though she did not understand him she loved him. Relena might have once been the Queen of the
World but Zechs was someone she knew to be strong, someone who she could look
to when she felt like she was going to fall.
There were times when she wished that they could do something together,
just the two of them but there never seemed to be any time and Zechs never
seemed to want to see her.
“I should
get going Quatre,” Relena folded her napkin over and set it on the table. “I need to get back to work and finish
writing my speech for next weeks summit meeting.”
Quatre
nodded and stood. He walked around the
table and pulled her chair out for her and offered her his arm.
“Take care
of yourself Relena,” Quatre said escorting her to the front door with David
trailing behind them. “Call me if you
need anything. Do you promise?”
“I
promise,” Relena gave a tiny smile. “The
same goes for you Quatre. We’re in this
together.”
Quatre gave
her a hug and kiss on the cheek before letting David take her down the
stairs. Relena slipped into the back of
the Mercedes. She directed the driver to
take her back to her house. There was
much to be done.
Her private
line was ringing when she stepped into her study. With a frown marring her face she picked it
up answering with a cautious greeting.
“Miss
Relena,” Aimee said in relief. “I’ve
been trying to ring you for a few hours now.”
“What is it
Aimee?” Relena asked seating herself behind the elegant brass-legged and glass
desk. “Did something happen?”
“Herr
Redner was killed but his private papers are missing,” Aimee reported. “The safe he kept them in was one of the best
on the market and it was totally fire proof and still intact but its empty.”
“It would
have to be a very good thief to break open into it then,” Relena commented
although she had an idea of who it might be but there was no proof.
“And
Senator Rochambeau called your office today and wishes to make an appointment
with you for two weeks from now,” Aimee told the blond girl.
“Schedule
him in for an hour,” Relena said chewing on her bottom lip, a bad habit she had
taken too recently. “And Aimee I was
wondering if you could contact Commander Une of the Preventers and try to get
me in for a meeting with her at the earliest convenience. If you can speak to her tell her it involves
Dorothy Catalonia but if you have to go through secretaries give them some
excuse about an upcoming budget meeting.”
“Very well
Miss Relena,” Aimee said. “I’ll do that
first thing in the morning.”
“Thank you
Aimee,” Relena gave a tiny smile. “Oh,
have you heard anything more from that Mr. Jenkins?”
“Not
recently,” Aimee spoke calmly. “But he’s
been busy. I’ve only spoken with him a
few times Miss Relena.”
“Oh that’s
too bad,” She was a bit disappointed.
“I’m eager to speak with him.
Tell him so if you ever hear from him again.”
“I’ll be
sure to Miss Relena,” Aimee promised.
“I’ll see
you in a few days Aimee,” Relena said goodbye and hung up the call.
She sat
back, her thoughts racing in all directions.
She wondered about Duo Maxwell but there was no time to speculate about
his involvement in Redner’s death. There
was no proof and she had no time to attempt to find any, besides which it would
have been mostly destroyed in the explosions and fires. Relena had other things to worry about such
as Rochambeau’s request for a meeting.
They were certainly not on many of the same committee’s and they did not
see eye to eye on most issues. It
troubled her that he wanted to see her after the summit meeting and not
before.
Relena sat
at her desk and scrawled off a quick letter to her brother. It was a short note telling him that she was
doing well and that she wished to see him to speak about Dorothy. She knew that if nothing else her request
about Dorothy would get a response out of her stand-offish older brother. She only hoped that it would come soon. Perhaps she might even get to know him or
that hope might fall away. Even if
nothing came of it she would at least gain another ally in her campaign to free
Dorothy and that counted for something.
Slowly she
rose from the stiff backed chair and put her letter into a cream envelope. She wrote her brother’s address on the front
in an elegant script and handed it off to one of her butlers. They would deliver it for her; all her
closest employees were faithful to her.
She moved
off and began looking up old quotes and other references to her planned speech
about freedom and moving forward into building a strong bond between the Earth
and Colonies for the future.
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