Miles away, sitting in a tent, overlooking a pile of rubble, Alex complained about her day to her assigned bunk mate, Marcia.
“No matter what I tell them, they keep asking the same questions. Over and over.”
“They’re just checking the consistency of your story,” Marcia replied. She was sitting on her bunk in her army fatigues, cleaning her boots.
Marcia was a good soldier. Always obeyed orders, never answered back, never questioned her superiors. Alex hated her, she never said anything interesting. Not like Marc who had always had a good quip and knew when to break the rules.
“And now the damn HPL is up my arse as well.”
“With all due respect, they’re up the whole army’s arse, sir,” Marcia replied.
Alex sighed and took a seat on her own bunk and stared out the tent flap at the remains of the facility. “Yeah but as the one who found the human, they have extra special questions for me, as if I somehow knew where he came from. As if I didn’t call it in the moment I found him. As if having any kind of human extraction procedure would have made any difference in this case. The protection league can shove their questions-”
“Don’t you know where he came from?” Marcia interrupted. It was a forward question for her but Alex was on a roll.
“No, I don’t know where he came from, for the thousandth time. He just appeared out of nowhere.”
“You don’t have any idea?”
“I climbed out of the facility and there he was. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what was going on in that place or what went wrong. I was there to guard the subjects. That was all. We were attacked by some creatures, but as to where they came from I couldn’t say, and I don’t know what caused the explosion.” Alex paced back and forth. Not all of what she said was the truth but she didn’t trust Marcia. She had known some of what they were doing, the intent if not the details. Alex wasn’t sure if Cornelius had gotten out of the facility with his family or if she was the only survivor. She hoped the child was safe at least. Criminals in exchange for the life of loved ones, especially one so young, had always seemed an easy trade, but something had gone horribly horribly wrong. She wished Marc was here. He would know what to do. She couldn’t get that image of his death out of her head.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Sounds like you failed at that job then,” Marcia replied nonchalantly as she relaced her boots.
Alex fumed but didn’t rise to the bait. There wasn’t much point and the less she said the better.
----------------------------------------
An hour later...
“I don’t think she knows anything more than she says sir.” Marcia stood in the captain’s tent, eyes obediently to the floor.
“Are you sure?”
Marcia nodded.
“Well,”—a sigh—“I suppose there’s not much to do but wait until the evacuation is underway. If only the bulk of the reserves weren’t tied up in the city dealing with those damn protestors.”
“We could call in some help from the navy sir?”
“Pffft! The navy! Those damn holier than thou monkeys couldn’t lift a rock if you gave them a fulcrum and a wheelbarrow. Besides we don’t need the aristocrats and sorcerers knowing what we’re doing out here.”
“I thought the navy were independent contractors sir?”
“Pfft! In naught but name. Everyone knows it’s the aristocrats and sorcerers who provide most of their funding.”
“They’ve done work for Mercy before sir?”
“Not this sort of work, besides I hear they’re tied up in the Emerald city with their own protests. Dismissed.”
“Sir?
“I said dismissed.”
“But sir-”
“Sergeant!”
“What about the human?”
“What about the human? The HPL sent him to Witchaven, we can’t touch him.”
“Witchaven isn’t completely off-limits to witches though sir, and it’s not like they’d know. New people come and go occasionally. It wouldn’t take much to send someone there, to make friends, ask a few questions, confirm Alex’s story.” Marcia waited while the captain considered it.
“Fine, but I didn’t approve this got it?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good night Sergeant.”