Scene 11 - 15 Gundam Wing After Dekim
Scene 14
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William
Shakespeare: It is a wise father that
knows own child.
Thucydides:
but by doing them.
of the Anubis, his personal
ship. It was now the biggest ship in the
Sweepers Fleet. It was only a third of
the Peacemillion but it was more than
serving its purpose.< sty style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
He paused
outside one particular cabin. The Kid
was in there asleep after a long drawn out conference with Winner.
not know how the Kid had gotten Quatre Winner to give in to giving him an old
research satellite that had been disbanded five years ago, but somehow he
had. He had even managed to receive
money for repairs and additions to the satellite.
clasclass=MsoNormal>
Howard knew
what the satellite would be used for in the up coming months.
procure parts for the additions and repairs to the satellite and he already had
crews on it installing cloaking shields among other illegal specialties.
permanent Sweeper base for downtime and a place to make repairs and get
supplies. But it would also be used to
house anyone or anything the Kid wanted kept there.
“Hey boss,”
Mac, the head mechanic called out.
“We’ve got a call from the Bolt.
Preventer skiff.”
“Did she
employ her cloaking shields?” Howard asked with a frown.
“I don’t
think so,” Mac shrugged. “The new kid,
Damian, is in charge of the ship. I just
think he got spooked.”
“Give him
our coordinates,” Howard instructed.
“Have him dock with us and make the repairs pronto.
my quarters.”
“Yes sir,
boss-man,” Mac grinned.
“Now get
back to work,” Howard waved his hand.
Mac spun on
his heal and headed back down the hallway whistling
some limerick under his breath. Howard
turned back to the Kid’s bunk area.
Normally he would not disrupt his downtime but this was important.
among other things.
He tapped
softly on the door. He heard the few
cuss words emitted from the other side of the door.
“Watch your
mouth boy,” Howard commanded.
“Oh it’s
you Howie,” The door opened to reveal a slightly more disheveled
Shinigami. “I was just catching up on
some sleep. What can I do for you?”
“I’ve got
the plans for the satellite in my quarters,” Howard adjusted his
sunglasses. “I thought you might want to
take a look at them. And the
today.”
“Isn’t a
new kid in command?” Shinigami was much more awake now, the change almost
startling.
“Yeah,”
Howard admitted. “He goofed up
royally. I think I’m going to replace
him with Ginger. She’s been on the
“She’s the
one in the communications department right?” Shinigami moved out into the
hallway and closed his door.
“That’s
her,” Howard said.
“She’ll do
“Let’s go have a look at these plans then.”
Howard could
only nod. Sometimes he forgot how
different his Kid was from the last time he had seen him.
corridors. A few people were walking
about waiting for their shift change but they were not lazy, just restless.
ship to get some damage it was a novice mistake, something that should never
have happened. The more experienced
hands could only shake their heads at the news while the newbie’s shivered at the
thought of running into Preventers in space.
In this
line of work though a commander had to be prepared for everything and anything
or his men would not trust him. Even if
the commander did not know the answer he had to act like he did, he had to be a
leader or people panicked. And panic in
space cost more lives than it helped.
Shinigami
and Howard poured over the plans for the satellite.
pleased with the additions they were planning.
Howard had redesigned the cloaking systems specifically for the
satellite. It was not quite the same as
helping to design a Gundam but it was something, certainly nothing to scoff
at. He was pleased with his
accomplishment in such a short amount of time.
pan>pan>Many sleepless nights had been spent re-modeling the cloaking shields
and the additions but it was worth it.
“These look
really good old man,” igamigami leaned back from the table.
accomplish all this?”
“If we can
get all the materials by the end of the month,” Howard speculated.
months. I’ll have crews working around
the clock. I was thinking of taking the
crew of the Bolt and putting them to
work on the satellite until I can be sure of Ginger.”
Shinigami
nodded. He could see Howard’s vision
just as Howard could see his pleasure in the satellite.
Howard
wondered how many people in the Underworld had their very own Fleet of pirate
ships at their beck and call, or how many had their own formerly owned Winner
satellite at their disposal. He was not
bitter about being under Shinigami’s thumb but he was not pleased with it
either. Still, he knew that serving
Shinigami was the best thing that he could use his Fleet for in times of peace
unless they planned to become out and out pirates again.
He knew
that he would not change anything. And
he was mostly in control of the Sweepers, only because Shinigami had so many
other things to see to. Howard studied
the figure before him.
Once again
the Kid was getting too skinny.
Shinigami had always been waif like but right now he was practically
skin and bones. And if the circles under
his eyes and their bloodshot state were any indication he was not sleeping well
either. Howard kept his sigh from
escaping his lips. At least for a short
time his Kid was at home where he could have some downtime before heading off
to save the world again. He hoped that
someone would kindly remember this sacrifice in later years to come, hoped that
it would be worth the pain and aggravations it was costing so many.
“Come on
over here,” Howard walked to his tiny galley in his quarters.
he loaded up my galley in here. I can’t
eat it all before it goes bad.”
Shinigami
plopped himself down in front of the tiny table.
his microwave. He pulled out a bottle of
milk and a loaf of Marble’s special garlic b.
fatten his Kid up before he had to move on.
He obviously needed it.
Howard
filled a large plate with steaming pasta and bread and set it and a large glass
of milk before the Kid. Shinigami smiled
at the familiar scents, one of his favorite dishes if Marble was cooking.
“Eat up
boy,” Howard said gruffly.
Shinigami
needed no second promptings. He cleaned
his plate and another along with half the loaf of bread.
so much. Howard helped himself to a
sample of Marbles cooking but mostly he watched Shinigami wolf the food
down. He hoped that the Kid would fill
out a little more and stop looking so much like a walking skeleton.
“Hey Kid,”
Howard said after Shinigami had almost stopped eating.
sleep. I’m planning on hitting the hay
myself. There’s not much else that needs
to be done tonight, nothing that can’t wait until morning.”
“That
sounds like a good idea,” Shinigami tilted his head to the side.
“That's
fine by me,” Howard smiled. “You’re
probably too weighted down after all that food to walk all the way back to your
bunk.”
“You’re
right about that Howie,” Shinigami folding his hands over his stomach.
“Night
Kid,” Howard moved off to his bedroom.
Howard did
not turn around to make sure that the Kid really was going to sleep.
Howard knew better than to make him feel like one.
there on his own though. Shinigami was
the closest thing he had to a son, the closest thing many of them had to a kid
around here. At least he was close
enough to heny nny nightmares the Kid might have.
He
remembered how they sometimes plagued Shinigami, before he had permanently
become Shinigami. Howard had not heard
any nightmares out of him for a long time, only saw the internal ones he
battled with daily. In most ways those
were the worst ones.
He felt old
as he lay on his bed. Older than he had
in a long time and he hoped it was not a sign of something bad to come.
they?
But he had
known all of this before he had signed over his soul and the Sweepers to this
mad scheme. There were always demons,
always nightmares out there to contend with and Shinigami could only do so
much.