***
Chapter 5 : Follow the Yellow Brick Road
***

Where are you going? Where have you been?

\\Follow this road to its end\\

Who are you? What do you want?

\\For just around the bend\\

The road we take shapes us as much as our steps.

\\Waits our destination\\

Where we end up may not be as important as how we got
there.

***

They arrived at the Winner estates slightly
bedraggled, having slept on the trip over and gone
directly to the scene, then here. Some people might
have been haunted in sleep by the things they had seen
on this mission, but Wufei had not been bothered by
it. He already had enough ghosts that there weren't
room for any more to occupy his attention. Duo,
however, was apparently not so unaffected and
continually muttered in his sleep, words that Wufei
just couldn't quite understand and the distraction
showed in the bags under his eyes. 

Duo waltzed up to the door and rang the bell as Wufei
pulled his hair back and fixed the ponytail that had
come loose. The silk strands slipped from his fingers
yet again, not wanting to stay confined. They had
already gone past security so the household knew that
they were coming.

Wufei gritted his teeth and pulled the ponytail out
yet again, his vision now obscured as his hair
followed gravity downwards. "Damn it," he muttered
under his breath. Nothing was working today.

A shape moved at his side. "Do you want me to help
with that?" Zechs asked.

The stubborn part of him was tempted to say that he
could do it fine himself, but it was ZECHS and
obviously he couldn't. And so he was silent as his
partner took the band from his fingers, skin brushing
against his. Long elegant fingers snaked through his
hair, pulling it backwards gently and Wufei felt his
eyes flicker close. He felt like a cat getting his
ears scratched.

Flick. The right side of his hair was pulled back,
then the left. Flick. He felt Zechs twist the band and
unconsciously leaned backwards.

"There. Is that better?"

"Mmhum." Wufei nodded, humming in the back of his
throat.

There was a cough and he jerked his eyes open. A
dignified older man in the suit of an old fashioned
butler was looking at them disapprovingly. As was Duo,
whose eyes had narrowed dangerously.

"Master Quatre is waiting for you. If you will follow
me."

***

It was Trowa who had let them inside, swinging the
doors to the office wide, Quatre close beside him. It
was unsurprising how much stuff someone of Quatre's
connections could dig up in such a short time,
especially about someone so well know.

Zechs wondered at the unfairness of it all. Jean
Manning had been an amazing person, dragging her
family out of dept into a multimillion dollar
operation in a year as well as spending much of her
newfound wealth helping the less fortunate results of
the war. And as far as anyone could tell, she'd kept
her nose clean.

But there was something that caught his attention.
"You said that one of the freelance ships she'd hired
went missing and she was investigating it?"

"Yes. And we think she may have been close to finding
something."

Quatre exchanged a glace with Trowa at the same time
he looked over at Wufei and Duo.

The latter voiced what everyone was thinking. "We'll
just have to find out what."

***

Bremand tapped his foot fretfully. It made a crisp
sound on the floor below. Things were not working out
like he'd planned. It seemed those mysterious deaths
were not as untraceable as he thought. His contact
within the police department had told him that those
blasted Preventors had somehow narrowed in on his
location. They were going to have to move the entire
operation.

It started a few days ago when the lot had arrived on
L4 and now they were going to ruin everything.

Tap. Tap.

He walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a glass
and a bottle. He needed to relax. This train of
thought circling for what seemed the hundredth time in
his head was getting him nowhere.

He unstopped the lid, tipping the bottle.

If only he could get to them.

And why not? But so far there had been no opportunity.

He knew exactly what he wanted to do. The others had
just been business, but these, they would get
something special. Especially Winner. It was obvious
he had helped them put the pieces together.

He closed his eyes, picturing it, smiling. He had
thought this so many times before. It was always the
Winners, with their hold over the whole area that held
him back. He pictured the little blond brat strung up
by his fingernails with satisfaction, smiling. No, how
about actual crucifixion...

The list when on, a ritual he'd participated in too
many time of late.

Behind him, on his desk, something moved, but he
couldn't see it. Bremand had his eyes closed.

***

They'd narrowed down the area with the notes left
behind by Ms. Manning. The destruction of her office
had not taken everything with her and, thanks to
Quatre's resources, they were monitoring the area for
signals constantly. Anything to give away their prey.

Zechs silently gave thanks to the woman. She had
already done most of the work here, allowing them to
put together everything they already knew.

Trowa's head quirked to the side. "I have something."
One hand reached up and put on the speakers, allowing
the rest of the room to hear.

"Help me."

The voice was coarse, as if from too much use. 

"Please, help me."

The voice continued to whisper its plea, turning
eventually into mere unintelligible whimpers before
dying altogether.

There was no visual picture. The five looked at each
other.

"Can you pinpoint the location?"

Trowa nodded at Zechs. 

***

Like the filaments of a spider's web, the Preventor's
spread throughout the ship. What they found was
unexpected. Nothing. Or perhaps it should have been
expected at this point. At least, that's how it was
for a few minutes.

"Sir? You should take a look at this." Zechs turned to
the source of the voice. The face was unfamiliar, but
the woman's tone of shock he knew all too well.
Everything about this case had been strange.

"Yes?" He answered.

"They've found the kitchen. There's still food
cooking. It's like they just decided to vanish into
thin air."

"They probably knew we were coming," he replied, but
that didn't explain the other oddities. Like why a
distress call had been given, the same distress signal
that had led the Preventors right too them. Why
abandon such a ship? It was clearly a base of
operations, much like Peacemillion had been.

He saw Trowa gesture the pilots over to where he was
observing the progress of the takeover. With a polite
nod to his fellow Preventor, he went to join them.

"They've managed to search the entire place. As far as
we can tell, it's been abandoned and there don't seem
to be any traps."

Wufei narrowed his eyes at Trowa. "Are you sure that
this is their base? Maybe it's another ship they've
attacked."

"It's possible, but why would they leave something so
valuable just floating here? It's worth a fortune as
scrap alone."

"Hm."

"About half of the computer systems seem to be down,
though all the important ones are still functioning.
The one engine is dead." A single green eye swept over
them. "The weapons on board are all functional."

That could only mean one of two things. That there had
been a traitor onboard, or it had been abandoned. If
the ship had been attacked, those would be the first
things to be knocked out.

Quatre placed his hand on Trowa's shoulder, as if to
reassure himself with the contact. "I have a bad
feeling, there's something there that shouldn't be.
Something..."

Having heard from Wufei about Quatre's strange talent
in this area, Zechs was unsurprised. He had to admit,
he had a bad feeling too.

Duo spoke up. "Well, I'd like a chance to try and get
their computers up and running. Maybe there's
something there that will tell us what happened."

"For once, Maxwell, you have a good idea." Duo turned
a dark look in Wufei's direction, but seemed to let
the implied insult slide in exchange for support.

"If we bring the ship in, it will give us time to
investigate. And I don't think all these people can be
spared for much longer. With the weapons functioning,
we should have no trouble taking care of ourselves."

Wufei nodded at Zechs. "I'll contact Lady Une."

***

"Man, it looks like someone took a hammer to it. We're
lucky that the life support is still working if this
is how all the computers are." The machine in question
was going to be a challenge to repair, and one Duo
knew he couldn't resist. Most importantly, the memory
appeared to be intact. "Well, I'll have to see what I
can do with you."

Muttering to the empty room, Duo flopped himself down
onto the floor and leaned inwards to get a closer
look. He was careful not to touch, not wanting to hurt
both himself and the computer at this point. "Hm,
maybe someone DID take a hammer to it." Parts had
literally been smashed or ripped out and scattered
across the floor. Though why anyone would want to
damage such a beautiful device he didn't know. This
was obviously the property of the head of this place.

He peered inside again. "What in hell?"

Ignoring his own rule not to touch, he reached and
pulled the black chain out, careful not to damage
anything else as he unhooked the barbed end. This was
difficult, since there were three splayed in different
directions. **Well, I know what did the damage now.
Fuck.**

He dangled it in front of his face with his left hand.
It was cool to the touch. The end appeared rusted. He
reached up and touched it with his right. Something
flaked off. **That ain't rust.**

//Black in black eyes stared at him. Faces pale as
death, and screaming. "This is not for you to see."//

His hand gripped convulsively.

"Ow. Shit." Blood dripped onto the floor and he
dropped the chain that had dug itself into his hand.
"It bit me."

Duo levered himself to his feet with his good hand,
clenching his right one in pain. **Hm, maybe I could
get Zechs to kiss it better.** With that thought, he
went to hunt down his fellows for medical attention.
He glared once again at the offending chain before
leaving. **Okay, I hope this doesn't mean I've been
right.**

He turned away, not noticing as the blood seemed to
vanish into the floor beneath it, as did the metal
links, melting into oblivion.

***

"Um, guys. Where did we put the medical kit?"

Three heads turned in his direction. Zechs looked at
his injured hand in concern. "Oh, Duo, what did you
do?"

"Yes, what did you do? We've only been here two
hours!" Wufei was ignored by everyone else.

"I just cut myself. I don't think it’s too serious.
But I'm still weirded out by what cut me."

"I'll be right back." Quatre ran off to get bandages.
Trowa stood up and let Duo sit in his place. 

"I was looking at the computer up in the boss' place.
It was in pretty bad shape, like something had smashed
it up."

Zechs nodded and gestured for him to give him his
hand. "Let me see this first. I do know some first
aid, after all."

Duo winced as he opened his hand. Moving it wasn't fun
as the skin stretched apart more.

"It’s not really that bad, but since it’s on your hand
it’s probably going to hurt. You're going to keep
moving it without thinking."

Duo saw Quatre return and the boy handed Zechs a
bottle of antiseptic. The blond man pored it onto the
cut and Duo winced as the liquid bubbled. Zechs put
several adhesive strips to keep the wound closed.

"There, done."

"Thanks." He smiled into blue eyes. Zechs smiled back.

"No trouble at all. You were saying?"

"Oh, yeah." He struggled to regain his train of
thought. "Anyway, I was looking at the computer, which
is going to need a ton of repairs if we're going to
get anything out of it, by the way, and I, well, I
found something stuck in it. An iron chain. I mean,
what is some sort of medieval torture reject doing in
something like that? Unless he was into really kinky,
painful sex, I have no idea."

Wufei was shaking his head. Zechs, Trowa and Quatre
were just looking at him.

***

"Damn, where'd it go?"

Besides various electrical components, the floor was
bare around the area Duo had centered on. Trowa
listened with half an ear to Duo as the Deathsythe
pilot muttered and swore, intent on his own search of
the premises while the others, excluding Wufei,
watched Duo expectantly. The Chinese man had called
the entire thing a waste of time and was still up in
the main control room working.

There was a desk, which was where the computer's main
controls appeared to be situated. Duo was digging
through the cupboard behind it, which hid the actual
device. In front of the desk were what seemed to be
the remains of several chairs. The walls were lined
with more bookshelves and furniture, but overall the
effect was Spartan. The previous owner had obviously
not been a large fan of comfort versus functionality.
The room did not seem to have much personality at all.

Something on the floor caught his eye. It appeared to
have fallen from one of the shelves and was utterly
out of place with the rest of the room. A delicate
looking antique box, worked in black and gold. He bent
and picked it up. Up close, the work was just as fine
as it had appeared from a distance. Strange, for it to
be in a place like this.

Nothing else seemed to be of interest, though he noted
several places in the room used for guards to keep out
of sight.

"I swore it was right here!" Duo was apparently giving
up in defeat.

Trowa walked with the box back to his companions as
Duo tugged on his braid in consternation. 

"Notice anything, Trowa?" Quatre asked, turning in his
direction. Trowa offered his lover the box, but he
tore his hand back as if bitten when he touched it.

"What's wrong?" He reached out with his other hand in
concern and could feel the blond shiver under his
touch.

Quatre's reaction, however, had nothing on Duo's.
Zechs' eyes had widened when he caught sight of it,
but he didn't have the chance to be astonished as Duo
jumped backwards and fell into him. Trowa wondered
what they knew that he didn't.

"Is that what I think it is? Please say I'm wrong."
Duo asked shakily.

"Maybe your theory wasn't so crazy after all."

Trowa knew he would have to get them to explain, but
Quatre hadn't stopped shivering yet, so he set the box
down and hugged him close until it stopped.

***

"I've found something," Wufei said as someone entered
the control room. He looked up. Even Duo had returned
from his quest, but he seemed pale and shaken. Of
course, the way he was clinging to Zechs did nothing
for Wufei's mood.

"What happened?" he asked almost with resignation.
Despite his bad mood, it was difficult to keep his
anger up continuously.

It was Zechs to answered him. "You remember the
information on the Gash that Duo received? Trowa found
something that bears a remarkable resemblance to one
of the artifact descriptions."

He looked at Trowa, who had his arm thrown over one of
Quatre's shoulders. Trowa said nothing.

"So we are looking in the right place then." It was
obvious that whoever it was was obsessed with these
demons. It was surprising that someone would go to
such lengths, but people like that weren't necessarily
the most sane.

Duo was looking at him, apparently shocked at his
acceptance of the situation. **He probably thinks it
really is demons.** Wufei shrugged. He had more
important things to worry about.

"I've managed to find the original distress message.
It seems most of it didn't get sent, something garbled
the message and the lack of visual in the one we
received."

He gestured for the group to gather around the small
screen that was still intact and began playing the
message.

//This is the Prometheus. We are at position 83x9x12
and are in need of assistance.//

The voice shook slightly and the man on the screen was
sweating.

//I repeat. This is the Prometheus. We are at position
83x9x12 and are in need of immediate assistance.//

There was a clatter as several people ran into the
room and the door shut with a woosh.

The message continued recording despite the
distraction.

//What is it?//

//Block the door!//

//You have a hand welder?//

//Quick man, move. They've got half the ship!//

//What!//

//Hurry, move it.//

//Fuck, go faster.//

//I repeat, this is the Prometheus. We are under
attack. We are at position 83x9x12. They're inside the
ship. We don't know how they got in.//

//Oh shit.//

The picture went dark as the lights flickered out. The
man was lit now by the eerie changing colors of
buttons and computer readouts. Now instead of shaking,
his voice cracked with fear.

//83x9x12, we are under attack. Someone, please
respond.//

//They're getting through.//

There was a grown of overstressed metal. The man in
the picture turned and his eyes widened in horror at
the unseen intruder.

//We'll surrender to the Preventors, just, please,
someone respond.//

//Oh, God.//

The man in the picture fell backwards and the picture
dissolved into static. The sound however, continued.
Even as seasoned soldiers, the groups winced and
Quatre looked a bit green as screams were abruptly cut
off. The rest of the message was familiar, as the
pleas drifted into silence.

//Help me. Someone. Please help me...//

Wufei cut the message off.

***

Duo bit back a nervous giggle. "Did anyone else find
that immensely disturbing?"

Quatre nodded. "I agree with you. Whatever happened
here was horrible, and left almost no evidence."

Wufei shook his head and pointed to the door. "Not
quite. You can see where they tried to weld the door
shut. They didn't get very far though. Plus, the
camera was destroyed."

Zechs moved away from Duo to inspect the damage. "Do
you think they have any surveillance records? That
should tell us exactly what happened."

"Probably, the question is where and how we can access
them."

Duo interrupted before Wufei could continue. "I bet I
could access them if I can get that computer in the
office working. If it belonged to the big boss, he'd
want to be able to watch what was going on."

Wufei nodded almost imperceptibly. Duo knew that was
all the approval he was going to get from that end.

"Don't worry, 'Fei. Have faith. I'm good at that sort
of thing."

"Actually, you aren't doing it right now."

Duo turned to Zechs in shock. "What? What do you mean?
We need this as fast as possible."

"I know. But how long has it been since you've slept?"

"A while," he muttered in return. He could go longer
than a few days without sleep, it wasn't a big deal.
He wanted to get at this.

Zechs, however, apparently disagreed. "You'll do it
faster if you're actually awake. You've hurt yourself
already and I'm sure it's because you're overtired."

The platinum blond drew himself to his full height,
which towered over most of the others save Trowa, and
seemed to slip back into officer mode unconsciously.

"You will get some sleep. I want at least half of us
totally aware at all times. No one is going to be left
by themselves."

Zechs turned from Duo to Trowa. "I think you should go
with Quatre and Duo," obviously realizing that Trowa's
presence would make Quatre feel better and Quatre's
presence would make Duo actually attempt to rest if
only for his sake.

Trowa nodded and looked at Duo expectantly. Zechs was
right, of course, but that didn't make this any
easier.

"Fine, I'll work on it tomorrow."

Zechs smiled at him this time. "Thanks, Duo."

Well, if he put it that way, Duo knew he couldn't
fight blue eyes like those.

***

Zechs pinched the bridge of his nose. He was probably
just as tired as he had accused Duo of being.

"Anything you want me to work on?" he asked Wufei. His
partner had been touchy of late so letting him lead
might be best. They didn't need any more hard feelings
between them.

To his surprise, a smile answered him. "Well, you
could help me out over here. I need an extra set of
hands."

"Certainly."

The silence between them was more comfortable than it
had been since the start of this case. It was a
pleasant feeling.

***

Wufei was smiling. Zechs had chosen to stay with him
instead of Duo. It made up for the idiot's clinginess
earlier by a long shot as well as the recording.

"Hold this here."

"Yes, alright"

"Thanks."

He closed the panel and punched a few entries into the
keypad. Lights flicked on reading green.

"Much better."

If anything his smile got larger.

TBC...

NOTES

How does this make sense if Bremand never opened the box?
Firstly, from "Dance of the Fetus" in Cliver Barker's
Hellraiser Book 1, Alice's repeated thoughts of suidide
called Mr. Soul. Why couldn't thoughts about others do
the same thing?
Secondly, according to CONCEPTS & GUIDELINES FOR A HORROR 
ANTHOLOGY SERIES:
"Each box is unique for each person, a different puzzle requiring
a different solution, a solution that is a RITUAL."
I just made the ritual bend more towards thoughts instead of
the puzzle in this case. There are many ways to summon Hell,
not just the box. It's simply the easiest. DESIRE is the key.

Other things
The ship's name is taken both from the Titan who gave fire to man,
but disobeyed the Gods to do it, and Babylon 5, where it was
the ship to start the Earth-Minbari war that almost destroyed
humanity.

"I just wanted to mention, for those who have asked, that absolutely
nothing whatsoever happened today in sector 83x9x12. I repeat,
nothing happened. Please remain calm." -- Susan Ivanova, B5