"Failing to see the bigger picture here, are we?" Herzsprung leaned back a little. "There is no grounds to negotiate upon, there never has been. It is my call and my call alone whether you leave here in a body bag or not, as walking out of that door without my blessing will get you killed. Not a threat, it is simply a fact. The consequences your combined actions of the past have summoned are what condemns you and her both today - not me and my doing. Freedom? Leaving this place? Ja, that is in my hands and these hands are unlikely to loosen their grip by how you approach this situation." Seeminlgy weary of something, the old hag pushed herself up again. A slow and cumbersome process, clearly not looking like a picture of health.
"Know this. I will act in my own self-interest, for the moment that includes both of your lives not being abruptly ended or significantly altered. I won't keep you on a leash, nor forever on any of my ships. That would defeat the purpose i have in mind for you. The same way as branding your dear Habermeyer here a traitor or worse, it is not what i have envisioned. Yet none of that is a guarantee your value to me is of any particularly high standing and would prevent consequences. I do not mind terribly much whether you die or you live, what i do mind is having opportunities. And they can be acquired from various sources not limited to you two specifically. So what will it be? To be funded, to fire on targets of my choosing from time to time, send me a nice NeuralNet postcard and visit places i wish to be visited by you here and there ... or to act against your very own self-interest? After all, you do want to get out of here and have Habermeyer continue with whatever she does. Nein?"
Traudel appeared utterly defeated, crushed even. A rare sight indeed, voice missing the usual chipper attitude entirely. "This is no choice at all..."
"It is more choice than some of us have ever gotten. Be grateful, Oberleutnant." Herzsprung looked daggers at Traudel, the sudden rush of displeasure gone as quickly as it came. Replaced by the cold and calculated stare of a psychopath. "Now then Nina Rodriguez, Crimson Queen of the Omicrons. Do we have a deal?"
