“I'm sorry I lost my temper, Karen.” She looked at her friend apologetically, “It's just that it's my mother that we're trying to track down and I'm worried that something will happen to her if we don't act fast. If the possibility of there being slavers involved, every second counts.”
Karen nodded her assent, “But Lor, that was just too much... you can't treat any OS&C employees without the respect they deserve, and I most definitely can't let anything like that happen again. I have obligations to my employer as well.”
Loreleii gave a sheepish smile, “But you have to admit, it did work. We got the name of the person we have to look for next... and I did said thank you.”
“Not funny, Lor.” Karen gave her a authoritative look as she crossed her arms on her chest, “I'm not kidding, promise me you won't do that again, or we're done. I can and will shut down this investigation if I can't count on you to be civil to all of the members of the staff on Diogo or where ever else we end up.”
Lorleii studied her friend's face for a few seconds, and seeing that she was serious, replied, “Ok, fine... I'll be on my best behaviour when dealing with your people, I promise.”
“Good, thank you.” A wave of relief swept across Karen, relief from having reinforce her jurisdiction as an employee of OS&C to her friend, and relief that she had done it with out alienating her either.
“But know this, when it comes time to deal with my people, a bit of intimidation goes a long way to get what you need.” Lorleii, hoped Karen would understand what she was talking about as she continued, “We're bound to run across some people that wouldn't have any qualms enslaving us, or worse, getting us hooked on Cardie.”
“So what you're saying is...”
Lorleii interrupted, “What I'm saying is, if I have to rattle some skulls to protect us, I'll do it without a second thought.”
Karen thought for a moment, “And you want me to be good with it.”
“No, what I want is for you to understand there may be a time I'll have to do something that you might not approve of.” She looked at Karen intently, ”And I'll have to do it quickly because it might just save our lives.”
“So follow your lead when we deal with anyone other than Orbital staff.”
“Correct, and I'll make every attempt to do the same when we're dealing with your organization.” Lorleii smiled to her, turned and started walking towards the passage leading away from the warehouse area, “And K, one more thing...”
“What?”
“You're dead sexy when you're mad.”
Karen felt the color rise to her cheeks, “C'mon, we still have to find this Anderi.”
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