"Please have a seat Mr Croft." The formiddable looking officer guestured to the chair opposite his.
"Thank you."
The sizable figure of Mr Croft lowered himself gently into the chair. He was quite a powerfully built chap with a little bit of weight to him. A pleasent smile seemed permanetly fixed upon his face and his dark brown hair bore the telltale signs of receeding.
"Could you give me your full name please Mr Croft?" The officer asked setting up his datapad.
"Ollivander Brunel, one N one L... Croft"
"Thank you, and your date of birth please."
"The sixteenth of the second, seven-eighty-six."
"Thirty two, good, we need some young blood. Now, tell us a little bit about yourself and why you'd like to join the Police Authority."
Mr Croft shuffled in his seat, cleared his throat and began "Well I was born on planet Leeds but moved to planet Cambridge when my father was offered a job as Professor of Antiquities at the Research Institute. Left school with decent qualifications, though higher learning didn't appeal to me so I got a job at Strickland Port unloading cargo.
Eventually I got promoted, earned my pilots license up to transport class ships and began planetary shipping, just moving stuff from port to port, no actual space travel. After that I worked under contract for Gateway Shipping for year or so, by then I had enough capital to go independent.
Spent the next five years travelling the galaxy trying to make my fortune, mind I was only twenty five so I wasn't there for just the trading. I met a very pretty girl in the bar on Stuttgart, best three weeks I ever had on that adventure. Naturally her brothers expressed their...Disproval...Of our relationship. I didn't mind the beating since I got another week with Helene while my bones healed.
Despite the piracy, the license fees and the protective brothers, I returned home in one piece a little bit better off than when I had started and a far wiser for it. I had a girl in Rheinland who I visited as often as I could and learnt far more about the other Houses than a political studies pad could ever teach. Though being an independent trader lost its appeal.
I had enough of being my own boss so I sold my Camara, bought myself a nice apartment on Cambridge and signed up with Gateway again this time for two years, hauling cargo in a Percheron throughout Bretonia and the odd trip to Rheinland, even manged to convince Helene to move in with me, just got married last year." He opens up his wallet and shows the officer a picture of himself next to a sweet faced blonde woman.
"Congratulations, a lovely young woman indeed. Looking to start a family?"
"In fact Helene is pregnant with a little girl right now, we only found out last month. Quite a suprise for both of us, we couldn't be happier."
"Congratulations again" said the officer, shaking his hand "It's hard work being a parent, I've got a two boys and a little girl of my own, well I say little she's in her teens now" The officer pulls out his own wallet and unfolds a dozen photos "but its worth it."
"Well its being a husband and a soon-to-be father that's brought me to the Police Authority, I don't want to spend weeks away from my girls hauling cargo, I'd much rather be closer to home."
The officer nodded sympathically "I can understand that, do you have any ambitions once you join the Police Authority?"
Croft sat back into his chair, absent-mindedly stroking his chin "Hmm, it would all depend on my families needs but personally, as long as I'm keeping people safe, I'm content."
"Very well" said the officer, making a note on his datapad "now Mr Croft, if you could have any kind of pet in the world, what would it be?"
"An osprey, I often watch them on the coast on Cambridge."
"Thank you Mr Croft, I'll put your details through to recruitment and let you know if you're successful. Best of luck to you and your wife."
