The Calling (Audiobook) (A Gundam Wing Fanfic Novel)

The Calling - Chapter 21

By ten O'clock the next morning, it had become a tense waiting game.

Heero hadn't slept much that night, neither had Fumio. Despite Noin's obvious playing-down of this potential breakthrough in the search for his training blueprints, Fumio realised there really was a possibility they had been located and were going to be delivered that day. Even with promising Noin he wouldn't get his hopes up, he couldn't help but remain optimistic.

Most of the group were sat around in the lounge when the knock at the door finally came. About a minute later, the lounge door opened and Quatre showed in a mysterious looking character.

"This is Yoshiyuki San," he said, introducing the man to the group.

He was a slim, tall-ish man of Japanese origin.  He was in his late forties and wore a dark, official-looking suit with a white shirt and plain black tie. He had clean polished black shoes, black trousers and a large black Macintosh coat. His face was thin. His eyes clear and focused. Many of the group quietly realised that this was not an ordinary person.

Heero's instincts were telling him to proceed with caution. He discreetly pressed his back against the cushion of the seat to make sure the pistol he'd hidden there was still safely in place, then he sat forward ready to act should the need arise.

The man scanned his eyes around the room at the group; he seemed to hesitate momentarily when he saw the two brothers. Heero was quick to note this, as was Wufei.

"Good morning," spoke Yoshiyuki politely, in a kindly and gentle voice. A slight smile sat on his face. "I believe you have been expecting me."

Instantly Heero's concentration was drawn. "I know that voice, I'm sure of it," he thought silently inside his head, "those eyes, that look. There's something very familiar about this man, but what?" he couldn't recall.

Several of the group returned the greeting with nods and gestures. Under his arm the man carried a grey document wallet. He slipped it out from under his arm and began to unzip it. Meanwhile Quatre had pulled him up a chair, which he happily moved over and sat down on.

"I have been authorised to pass on this document," he said, still unzipping the bag. His voice seemed to change to a more official, authoritative tone. "I understand you have been searching for this for some time."

He withdrew the document and placed the empty wallet on the floor beside his chair. As he did so, all eyes were focused on what he was doing. Meanwhile, no one seemed to notice Fumio slip silently away to the furthest corner of the room.

The man sat the document on his knees. It was compiled into pages stacked about an inch thick. Everyone could see the words 'Top Secret' stamped on the front cover.

"This is not the original document," he continued. "I can confirm that the original was destroyed during wartime, however," he paused for a moment, "digital backups were made of certain classified documents, particularly those pertaining to the wider global and colonial interest."

His words were met with a number or raised eyebrows. There was a general feeling that this was a highly knowledgeable man.  Just the sense of presence he seemed to radiate, told the observer that he knew things, he knew a lot of things.

"I'm pleased to say we were able to generate a new copy from the backups," he continued, his voice suddenly seeming to loose its authoritative edge, "It should be identical to the original."

The man leaned across and handed the document straight to Heero, looking him in the eye as he did so.

Heero nodded appreciatively.