| The records that Leyia sought were not difficult to find. In a matter of minutes she was looking at a list of names of people to whom Rico had sold either weapons or military technology. Following each name was contact information and the dollar amount of each of the transactions which that person had made with Darcon. As Leyia scanned the list, she discovered that many top officers in the Alliance Military had made extremely large purchases from Darcon. This did not surprise her. It was the names and purchase amounts that followed that shocked Leyia. Rico was quite literally giving weapons and technology to rebel forces both on earth and on the colonies! She knew that he did this not because he supported their causes, but rather to keep the battles going and the money flowing into his bank account. At the end of the list was the information which Leyia had sought. She quickly scribbled the contact information for OZ Special Forces leader, Treize Khushrenada, on a scrap of paper and stashed it in her wallet. With a few swift keystokes Leyia was able to hide forever the fact that she had accessed this information. Satisfied that she had sufficiently covered her tracks, Leyia checked her own schedule for the day. She saw that she was scheduled to run two separate test flights using a new prototype cockpit system called Z-100. The system had great potential, but it still frightened her. She did not like the direction that Darcon was taking in its development. Its purpose was to keep the pilot focused, not a bad thing in itself. It was the fact that the focus was placed on an enemy rather than an objective that disturbed her. It could turn a pilot into a virtual search and destroy machine. What was worse was that its effects did not wear off after the pilot left the suit, at least not totally. When she had voiced her concerns about this to the Darcon development teams, they told her that they did not view this as a problem so long as the pilot was not physically harmed by the system. It did not matter to them that even after leaving a suit, the pilot still felt an intense need to destroy the enemy. They might have felt differently if only they knew who it was that Leyia considered to be her enemy. She had been exposed to the effects of Z-100 many times and often had difficulty controlling its effects on her in her daily life. She wondered how much effect her exposure to Z-100 had on her plans for today. After she had completed the first test flight, still strongly influenced by Z-100, Leyia took the action which set the current chain of events in motion. She sought an area were she would have privacy and brought out her portable communication system. She took the scrap of paper from her wallet and quickly keyed in the contact information for Treize Khushrenada, adding a code which would scramble her image on his end of the com-link. When his image appeared on her vid-screen, Leyia trembled ever so slightly. He was young, handsome, powerful and determined, even more than she had expected. She would have to keep her personal feelings in check if she wanted to accomplish her goals. The sound of his voice returned her to her senses. "Who is this?" he asked, seemingly without malice or suspicion. "Your vid image is unclear and I am afraid that I cannot recognize you." " I scrambled my image to protect both of us," Leyia replied. "You would not recognize me even if you could see me, as we have never met. I am a test pilot for Darcon Indutries and I have information about my employer which I believe it is vital that you know." When she saw him nod, Leyia began to tell of all the double dealing that involved himself and Darcon. She gave him names, dates, and monetary amounts. She also told him of the cockpit system which she was currently testing and lunched a tirade about its dangers if anyone were to get it into his head to use it on a large scale basis. Her message to him completed, she awaited his response. "You have confirmed what I have suspected for quite a while, " he told her. "You do realize that giving me this information has put not only your job, but also your life in jeopardy.Do you wish my protection?' Leyia's response was swift. " I am a woman of many talents, Major Khushrenada. Losing this job holds little significance to me. It would not be difficult for me to obtain another. As for my life, you know that I am a mobile suit pilot, I am perfectly capable of protecting myself. I have been told that I am one of the best. I do not know if that is true, but I feel very little fear for my life." "I did not wish to offend you by my asking, but I would not want to see someone who has provided me with such information come to any harm," he explained. "I will take your word that you are capable of defending yourself. You must, however, tell me where you are." Leyia understood his request. "I am at Darcon's main headquarters on the test flight field. I just completed several test flights using the Z-100 system. I am scheduled to run several similar test flights on Kennedy Flight Field in about two hours." "Get the Hell out of there," Treize told her, "And don't show up for those additional test flights. Darcon is going to have some serious problems in about three hours. Do you understand?" "Perfectly," Leyia responded and broke the comlink. There was nothing to be gained from any additional contact. It could only put them at risk of being discovered. That was a risk that she was not willing to take. She loaded her two test suits, an Aries and a Leo, onto the carrier which Darcon had provided her for convevience. To all who saw her she appeared to be preparing to travel to Kennedy for the second round of test flights. Only she knew that instead she would be flying to a deserted airfield about three hundred miles away. She would spend the night there on the carrier. In the morning she would make her way to a nearby town to learn of the events which transpired during her flight. She knew that she would never return to her former life again, but she had no regrets. Her heart told her that she was doing the right thing. When she got to town the next day the first thing she did was find a newspaper. The headlines were exactly what she expected. Darcon's treachery was exposed and Rico Dalton was dead. When the tears finally came to her eyes they were not for her late husband. Rather, she cried because she knew that she must now leave her two sons behind. Her oldest was sure to realize that she had played a part in the attack on Darcon. She did not want him to feel that he had to live with the person who had arranged his father's death. Her family would care for the boys, she was sure. Later, she would see an attorney to set up a trust fund for them. For now, though, all she sought was absolution for her sins, for she supposed that what she had done was a sin. She sought a priest in a small church in the town and asked him to hear her confession. The tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she told him of what she had done. She cried not out of regret, but because she knew that her life would never be the same and she had no idea where she would go from here. Amazingly the old priest gave her the answers she sought in his response to her confession. A truly wise man, he had told her,"My child, you have committed no sin. This is a time of war. It is sad that you and the man you once loved chose such conflicting positions, but these things happen. The true sin would have been if you had done nothing and let him continue doing his treacherous deeds. "I know of a place where you can go for help and guidance in your plans for the future. It is called the Guardian Temple. In it you will find people of many different faiths whose desire is only to work together to protect all those on earth and the colonies who are in danger due to this ongoing war. It is a few miles outside the Santa Fe city limits. Go there, my child, and may God go with you!" Feeling that she had nothing to lose, Leyia decided to go to the Guardian Temple. Her carrier would have her there within a few hours. She was not sure if these people would be able to help her, but she knew that going there was the only way to know. |