It hadn’t even been five minutes when the lieutenant stormed back into the classroom, slammed the steel door shut behind her, and threw the reports on his table. ‘How could you?!?’ she said with a volume that bordered on yelling.
‘How could I what?’ he calmly retorted.
She walked around his desk so she could confront him face to face. She leaned forward with both hands resting on his desk and spoke with a venomous undertone. ‘You know, you’re really getting on my nerves with that constant feigned ignorance of yours.’
He chuckled, which only aggravated her further. ‘Me feigning ignorance is the only reason why I, and you, are still alive. Besides, you should be grateful. I’m exposing one of your weaknesses. You better learn from that before others find ways to exploit it.’
‘Grateful for what? For sabotaging my mission? For ruining my career?’
He couldn’t contain his laughter after that remark. ‘Ruin your career? You’re barely out of cadet school. You’re 32 for Pete’s sake. You’ve got another hundred and eight years left to work on your career. If one assessment from me can ruin all of that, you might as well give up right now. Your career isn’t what's depending on this mission, your ego is.’
‘Shut up father. I don’t need one of your stupid lectures. You were never there when I needed them, so save me them now. Everything I achieved I did so without your support. I forgave you for that. Made my peace with it. But now this?.. The one time I need your support, you sabotage me instead because of some personal petty reasons.’
His eyes narrowed slightly. ‘I don’t think I’m the one with personal reasons here. You seem to care about this Voss just a little bit too much.’
She snorted. ‘Hah I’m only interested in him because I need him for my mission. I’m a professional. Unlike you.’
His eyes widened again. Giving her that stern fatherly stare again that she so hated. He spoke firmly with an angry undertone. ‘I can accept the accusations regarding my parenting. I will not stand any accusations regarding my professionalism or the quality of my work. I am a sergeant of the Fifth and I stand with each and every single one of my recommendations and assessments.
‘And yet you gave him a negative assessment despite him scoring perfectly on every test he took and displaying great potential. Why? Because of one small incident where he laughed during class when another recruit acted silly?’
'Don't be so childish. I don’t doubt this man’s intelligence or skill, lieutenant. Nor did I give Voss a negative assessment because he never took my classes seriously. I could forgive him all of that and the fact that he was barely able to mask his disdain for the academy and its rules. No, I gave him a negative assessment because there’s a dangerous kind of vengeance hidden in his eyes.'
The sergeant leaned forward until their eyes came close. He continued with a sharpened, paternal voice. 'There are two types of men in this universe, lieutenant. There are those who allow themselves to be molded into slaves; and then there are those who prefer death over submission no matter what you offer or threaten them with. Voss is the second kind of man. He's not the kind of man to ever lie down and accept his miserable fate. He'll always be a liability. A knife in your back when you turn to face the enemies in front of you.’
‘Ah please’. She interrupted, making a dismissive hand gesture.’ There’s vengeance in all of them. None of these men submit to slavery, or they’d be down in the mines right now instead of here. Every resident recruit that rolls through here has a problem submitting, including you. The only difference between Voss and the others is my professional interest in him. You’re doing this because you don’t trust me. You think I’ll fall for him like some silly goose, don’t you?’
‘Indeed he reminds me of myself. and yes, I do think that you’re at risk of falling for him. You wouldn’t be the first woman in your family that made the mistake of falling for a resident. That’s not why I gave this negative assessment though. I can’t put my finger on it precisely, Cassandra, but there’s something… different about him, and not in a good way. I pride myself on being able to dissect any man or woman that passes through here. Give me a month with any of them and I can tell you exactly who they are. Not with him though. I look at him today and know nothing more than I did a month ago. There's something unnatural about him.’
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‘So you make your shortcomings my problem? Just because you can't assess him properly, doesn't mean I can't. I’m not my mother, dad. I’m not going to make her mistakes. I know all too well what their consequences are. Voss is simply the best mechanic there is with a skillset that’s extremely hard to come by. That’s the only reason I care about him. Sure he may be unruly and harder to control than most, but so am I. I may be my mother’s daughter, but I’m also yours. You may hide yourself here inside this classroom and act stupid, but I know who you really are. I know you possess the same ruthless ambition. You and I weren’t born to be controlled either, father.’.
He sighed. He knew she was speaking the truth, at least the part about him. But still, there was something about this Voss character that he couldn’t quite wrap his hands around. Something dangerous.
‘Listen, Cassandra. All I know is that a man like him, or myself, won’t ever allow himself to be enslaved. The rebellious spirit in his heart will never be quenched. You gave him the choice between death and serving the Fifth. Voss is the kind of man who’d choose death over slavery.’
‘And yet, he chose the Fifth over death.’
'Yes he did. Which is why you can’t trust him. He’s enduring what he must right now, abiding his time. I don’t know what his exact plans are, but there will come a moment where he’ll see an opportunity to strike out and get what he wants.'. The sergeant leaned back. Creating more distance between their faces. His tone softened, as did his face. 'I don’t want you to be anywhere near him when he does.’
‘If he’s so much like you, then why are you hiding in here? Why have you never struck out? Where is your lionheart?’ she replied with a disdain in her voice. 'How can you expect me to believe he's dangerous when you're holed up in here like a puppy in a doghouse?'
‘The difference between Voss and me, and the only reason why I never grasped any of the opportunities I had, is that I have something that he doesn’t. I have someone who I care more about than myself. I’m willing to suffer in silence so I can help you where possible.'
'You mean sabotage me'. She snapped at him.
His voice turned angry again. 'You have no idea what risk you would be if I ever rebelled or escaped. They’d look into me. They’d find out about you and use you to get to me. Trust me Cassandra, the traces between us are more numerous than I’d like to admit. All it takes is one hunter-prosecutor to go after me, and we’d both be toast.’
She was unimpressed by his warnings. ‘Yet more excuses from a bitter old man who would rather deny me my life than face the mistakes of his own. Save me the sob stories about your noble sacrifice. I didn’t even know you were my father until you decided to barge back into my life when I was a cadet. You say I would be in danger? They’d send a hunter-prosecuter after you? Don’t make me laugh. You’d be just another residential runner. They don’t send prosecutors after residents. Nobody up top cares about who you are or what your motivations are. They’d put a bounty on your head and have you killed on sight. They’d never find out about me because they wouldn’t be looking.' She pauzed. 'No, if you truly prioritize my safety, you would have never told me. Your secret would have joined you in your grave.’
The sergeant slammed his hand on the table and yelled at her. ‘Damn it Cassandra, stop being so naive. It’s not that simple. You have no idea how much I’ve withheld from you. If you knew just half of it, you wouldn’t be talking like this. You have no idea how many dark and rotten secrets I will take to the grave with me. Secrets so horrible, they'd send chills down your spine.’
‘More excuses and tall tales again. You say Voss is like you? Well then I have nothing to fear from him. He’ll fold and fall in line before his boot camp is over.'
He sighed deeply. His voice sounded resigned now. ‘Fine, have it your way. I’ll change his assessment. Since you won’t listen to reason, you’re going to have to find out the hard way.’
‘Thank you, that’s all I wanted. I wish you’d done it straight away. Would have saved me the time and you the embarrassment.’
‘Careful, lieutenant. Your taunts and abhorrent behavior have already pushed me to the edge. Would you really allow your rampant ego to ruin things for yourself when you’re at the cusp of getting what you want?’
‘Fine, I’ll shut up. Just sign off on Voss and I’ll leave you be. I just received signal that my flight’s tomorrow morning anyhow. You'll be alleviated of my annoying presence for quite a while after this.’
He signed the papers. She tried to snatch them from his hands, but he pulled them back. ‘A final thing. I’ll give you your positive assessment, but you got to promise me this one thing.’
‘What’s that?’ She sighed.
‘There’s another recruit. One that shows a lot of potential. One of similar intelligence and skill, and one whose character is much more.. agreeable. Promise me you’ll at least keep an eye on his development and will consider him as an alternative to Voss.’
‘Fine. I intend to keep an eye on every recruit anyhow. You never know if more useful talent shows itself. What’s his name?’
‘Good. That's all I ask. His name is Hiyo.’
'Hiyo, huh?' She snatched the papers from his now outstretched hand and headed for the exit.
'I know I'm not much of a father, Cassandra, but even now, when you have taunted and tormented me; I feel sadness when I know you'll be gone for a long time.'
She hesitated for a second. 'It's ok, dad. I know you mean well. I'm..' she didn't finish her sentence. A short, awkward silence followed before she walked out.