The Bear's Cave - Sedona Station, Baffin (Formerly Freeport 14, Yukon)

[Zelot]

As Otis Jethro looked closer, he knew he was looking at the right person. with a chuckle he motioned for the ragged-looking woman across from him to wait for a moment. He called the waiter over. Looking up at the man he said "Lev keeps some things in the back for when I come in. He should have a few thick cut Angus steaks, bring me one of them, mid-rare. He has a single malt from the Green Hell on Islay, bring that for me with a glass, and bring our little artful dodger here another bowl of the scrubby soup, and some water."

Finally looking back across the table, he began, "Miss Ward, nice to meet you. My name is Otis Jethro. I am sure the LSF has a long file on me, so it shouldn't be hard to find out or confirm, but I'll run through a little about me for you. I was a long-time executive at IND. I served in various roles in the company over the years including V.P. of facilities security, Director of Operations Kusair, Director of Operations Hispania Corsair, Director of Operations Sirius, Senior Vice President and Cheif Operations Officer - Sirius. There are few capitals in Sirius I haven't spent a great deal of time in and...." Jethro looked up as the waiter returned with his order. He poured a drink and took a sip before continuing. "and there isn't a scummy bar from here to the Omicrons I don't know the owner of. Which is why I have a nice steak and a fine scotch in front of me." Otis figured if this woman was going to try to play the psychological games, he could do the same.

"Nice to meet you" He said with a broad smile before taking a cut of his steak joyously into his mouth.

[Susan Ward]

- "Well met, Mr. Jethro." said the woman between two spoonfuls of soup. She indeed looked hungry. Was Liberty Security Forces personnel not fed regularly? Otis naturally concluded all this was a trick used by this agent... But for what purpose?

After having emptied the bowl, the woman leaned back, as to take a comfortable position for a well deserved digestion. Otis waited patiently while sipping his scotch, considering this was again a psychological maneuver used by this agent.

- "First of all, Mr. Jethro..." suddenly said the woman, "I believe I owe you an explanation, and it is my conviction honesty is vital during a first contact, so that trust can be earned by both parties."

The woman suddenly burped before putting a hand before her mouth, looking horribly embarrassed. She then proceeded with her speech.

- "Right... As I was saying, honesty is a valuable trait. I see you were kind enough to trust me, uncovering details about your past. Consequently, I feel obliged to tell you this exquisite and well mannered person you have in front of you is Ms. Connor Ashley, citizen of House Bretonia, and formerly en route to Planet Malta to serve as unqualified workforce. Ms. Connor had the good fortune to be dropped at Barrier gate station, following a rather successful transaction made with her 'manager'. Of course, Ms. Connor was kind enough to do a little favor to the persons who saved her from that leisure trip, before being guaranteed to be returned to House Bretonia as soon as possible."

The server came with the water and another bowl of soup, that the woman welcomed with a reserved smile. After having drank some water, she went on.

- "As you certainly figured, Mr. Jethro, Ms. Connor serves as a proxy for our little gathering, and repeats what I tell her. Word for word. Please do not feel offended by such an artifice. I'm sure you can understand in my line of work, keeping one's identity secret can grant a significant advantage, and I'd rather keep mine secret till we are acquainted. As for the concerns you may have about what Ms. Connor could remember about this little gathering, she benevolently agreed already to take chemicals that will suppress her short term memory during a few hours, which will be more than enough for us to conclude this meeting."

The woman timidly took her spoon in order to empty the second bowl of soup. But she suddenly stopped and added :
- "I hope those clarifications will help you proceeding with that discussion in an appeased manner, Mr. Jethro. As for what you just told me, your CV is rather impressive and it is a certainty you could bring a lot to our agency. If you allow me, however, I'd like to ask you a few trivial questions first :
Why would you want to help us and what kind of contributions or actions you imagined doing for this agency?"

[Zelot]

Otis looked over and thought about what he had been told. Is someone like this really someone who he wanted to work with, to trust his fate to? He thought about this poor woman across from him.

Jethro stood up and walked toward the door of the bar. On the way he commented to the waiter, "Put it on my account, and give her as much food as she wants to eat....poor girl. Say thanks to Lev for me."