There was a pause, but no buzz. Instead, there was simply a "We shall see". There was another short wait before the next question. "Would you ever follow orders from a former Corsair?"
"Yes, sir." He reaffirmed the interviewer's statement. He thought it was best to show that he agreed.
"My path to the Coalition?" Briccant questioned himself in his mind, and found himself unconsciously sighing.
He straightened up again, and prepared to answer the question.
"It began around five years ago, Sir. When my brother left us. There were rumours of what he had done, how he had turned against Liberty and become a criminal. It was all true. He had become a Rogue, Sir. Not a pirate, but a revolutionary, that wanted to overthrow the corrupt system." Briccant paused for a breath.
"I made contact with him, three years ago. He met me on a Junker station after I got a message I knew could only be from him. His appearance had changed, and so had his ideology. We always argued, and this was no exception. Except, this time he one upped me. He proved he was right. We had a few more meetings, making arrangements.
Ever since those few meetings, I have been supplying money to him, to fund his activities. I have still not been found out, since Liberty is so corrupt that everyone knows that everyone is involved at some level, and I could pay off anyone that caught me. However, credits are finite, and now my brother has to get by, by himself.
I have finished my degree at the University as well, so now it is time to follow my path, and I believe it is with the Coalition." Briccant finished. The story had been shortened as much as he could, he did not want to test the man before him's patience.
Surprised at the fact that another light did not go off she began to think that her fate was not sealed and that she would live to see another day. She began to answer the next question.
"I have abandoned the Outcasts, and have thus abandoned the pointless hatreds that accomplish nothing but the death of others, in fact that was one of the reasons I abandoned the Outcasts. So I suppose the answer would be yes, I have no hatred for the Corsairs, that hatred has been directed at the denizens of Malta."
Alexial knew she would make it through the test, she would survive and gain the redemption she so vividly sought.
" Well, the obvious answer would be my good piloting skills, but I simply don't have them. Well there's my ship, but I suppose that is going to be scrapped, so I can't bring that either. There's safety in numbers, an extra member always helps and I do have knowledge of the entire north-eastern half of Sirius, and I do have excellent combat skills when I'm not in a ship. I also know when my mind is being probed by a nomad, or possibly an Wilde, seeing as how it's happened to me several times living in that sector of Sirius. I suppose other than that there's nothing else I can bring to the Coalition.
Katz nodded, Alicia give this one the paperwork, lets see what he does on the written test He inclined his head. Be warned, you arent finished yet, there will be more questions.
As the Applicant shuffled out of the room, Katz set his jaw.
Ryan jumped slightly as he was woken up by another applicant sitting next to him, "Think you're up..." Ryan looked around in a hazed fashion, before taking his sun glasses off, folding them and placing them in his pocket, standing up and straightening himself out before walking into Katz's office...
Ryan stood at attention, keeping his back straight and his chin up, waiting.
"What you bring to the Coalition is your will, your resolve, your fire, your spirit and your loyalty. I doubt you have these. In fact, I will bet that you will be weak, shaking from withdrawal, the first time you get in a cockpit!" she barked. "You have one chance! Explain why I shouldn't flip this final switch in ten seconds! Without using the letter A!"
"To me, to be a Communist, is to be a human being... There is so much war, famine, pointless things... All for personal gain... And the very ideals of Communism, don't... Shouldn't allow for such things."
Ryan held his position, still holding his chin up.