Kate's eyes narrowed. "All I have is Liberty." Her jaw clenched, obviously getting upset by the line of questioning. "I bled, I watched my brothers die, and I kept on fighting until I couldn't." Releasing the tension in her jaw, her eyes dropped down and fixed themselves at the table, namely the ashtray, in an almost uneasy stare as she remembered Westfallen.
"So yeah." Her hand balled up in a fist. "I got nowhere else to go. Because I have nowhere else better to be.. Sir." She looked at the officer and stared for a good couple of seconds.
"Now, stop beating around the bush. You spooks always act the same, just to waste time. Get on with it." Her fist tensed. A little more and those perfect teeth would become not so perfect.
The officer just nodded. That was what he wanted to hear. "We're almost there."
"Let's try something else." He put aside a few flash cards from the dossier. Just some pictures. The Liberty flag, a picture from the new hampshire battles, a First Fleet insigna, a picture of Fleet Admiral Jones, a bounty hunter, a sabre, a picture from the mercenary wars and ultimately the officer also unveiled a picture of a polished silver coins on the table.
As he took put the notes paper back in the dossier he instructed her. "Respectively, what is the first thing that comes to your mind for each of them?".
* * * * * * * *
"Tough as nails, isn't she Admiral?" A few rooms down the corridor, DeGrange said looking at Admiral Jones. "And everyone's best friend with a seemingly unlimited amount of stamina out in the field." The admiral shifted his atention from the monitor to the ESRD Director. "Seems like it runs in the family." DeGrange responded. "Mhhm. Let's hope it's just that." Looking back at the screen the Admiral took a deep breath. "Take the file and get to James. No more games. Sort this out for good."
Her eyes perused the images. One after one, her eyes did not betrayed any change. "Home. Hell. Family. Leader. Hired. Good ship. Liberty's Finest. Silver." Her eyes rose and stared at the officer.
"Is there anything else?" Her jaw tensed. "Or are you going to give me some crayons and some pictures for me to colour?" Annoyed. If she could, she would give this man a run for his life. And still then, she wouldn't stop. Not without some choice words or hits to his jaw.
"Again. Stop going in circles. I get tired and not that dizzy. Just annoyed." The ashtray came to view. And she without her cretan cigars.
"Crayons?" DeGrange asked as she entered the room. "Pink is my favourite. What about yours Lieutenant?" She moved in closer to the table and handed the officer the file. James took it and placed it in the table, passing it over to Albey. "And is this the coloring book?" James replied. "Not even close. DeGrange gave the officer a cold stare. "Leave us James. I'll take it from here. Dismissed." The Captain said, with the insigna and the name tag on her BDU showing her authority.
As Elizabeth took a seat, Albey had enough time to go through the file and get the core idea of it. Everything was fitting in. Elizabeth was just looking at her, taping her fingers on the table at a certain tempo. "Any thoughts?" She just wanted to see her reaction.
Reading the file, her eyes fixed on a name. Nevermind the bloody murders. Nevermind the dates. Nevermind the color. Her eyes slowly rose to meet the newcomer. A still aggressiveness filling them, yet one would be incapable of deciphering whether if Albey was sizing the woman or imagining how she would hit her. "Reavers. Very colourful. Predator Pink is my favourite one. Not Silver." She spoke.
Was Kate found, at last? The sins of the past have finally clawed up to her? "Not without a fight, chum." She thought, as she turned the file and returned it to the woman. "So, who might you be, ma'am?" She nodded towards the Captain rank in her lapel and cufflinks. "Break before bending, even in peace. And if all else fails, break them first." The sentences carried out through Kate's mind, one of the lessons she learned back in the One Four One.
"I am Captain Elizabeth DeGrange, your commanding officer in the Division." She replied casually. "Might as well be the shining light of your day everytime you see me." Elizabeth noticed the ashtray on the ground and moved on to pick it up and place it back on the corner of the table.
"So, Eris, it seems like you still do have a family member. And Kate Albey, that's a nice name." She smiled and handed her anoher file from the dosier. One with her real name in it. DeGrange took a deep breath and paused for a moment. "Messing with your records is not the best thing to do in the Military. But thats not the only reason we're here, not even the main reason." She picked up Silver's file again and took another brief look at it. "How well do you know her, Eris?"
The woman with the knife and the proverbial cheese in hand. Straight to business and with a no bullsh** policy. Finally, Eris thought. "I haven't been in contact with her since I was fourteen. She dropped me off at the Social Servs, and told me that it would be best if I changed my name when I came of age." It had been a really long while since she last spoke about this. The last person she did talk to was long dead in the taking of the Westfallen.
She eyed DeGrange. "And so I did. All within the law and less questions asked when I filled my application to the Ground Forces." Eris opened her own file. All sorts of red tape around it, since it was a juvenile record and protected by the law. It probably took some mighty strings to get access to it. "And if you're wondering. I ain't my sister. I'm not in contact with her. And I sure ain't a Reaver." Her hands closed the file. "I'm just a mud grunt that fights for Liberty. With everything I have."
"We know Eris, we already know." She slammed her hand on the table. "We're not talking about files or information or whatever, forget that. We're talking about character or what you're made of." She then put the files and the dossier to the side of the table. "And we heard exactly what we wanted to hear." She leaned back on her chair.
"And if you were, all this time, wondering, why me?" Elizabeth paused for a moment, thinking of the plans the Admiral and she had in mind. "You're a smart lady, so you do understand there's no such thing as coincidence. You're here because we need you, because we have chosen you." Looking at the camera in the corner knowing Jones was watching and then looked back at Eris, she continued. "Because you are the one person with the right skillset, the determination and endurance fit for.." Not wanting to unveil more she interrupted herself trying to find a fitting word. "for a specific task."
Eris looked at the camera and back at DeGrange. "The first thing I said when I got in here was that I am here to serve." She straightened herself in the chair, standing in attention. "It hasn't changed, and it never will."
Putting both her arms and resting her closed hands on the table. "Tell me what Liberty needs me to do." She eyed DeGrange. "I killed. I bled. I invaded in her name. Lost friends. Got scarred. Got lost." She breathed in and a small grin appeared. "And after it all.. For her?" Eris looked at the camera.
Elizabeth smiled. She reminded her of her Drill Instructor. "Its going to take abit more than that I'd say. Youre going to need as much patience and solid nerves as much as youll need your sturdyness." Elizabeth stood up. "You will be an infiltrator. The Admiral and I noticed you from the beginning." She motioned for Albey to follow her. "The Admiral has a plan. He wants to see you. Come with me." She turned around and walked towards the door moving in on the empty hallway, waiting for Eris.