Prison cell... A black leather bed with metal poles at both ends and straps everywhere... Pain... Blur... Darkness...
"... minor concussion. Internal bleeding in the left forearm. Get the surgeon over here to..." silence again...
She felt someone touching her eyelids. Bright light on the left and then on the right - it blinded her for several seconds. When her vision cleared, she saw a dark-haired man in a familiar leather uniform with Captain insignia.
"Welcome on board the Liberty Naval Ship San Francisco. How you feeling?"
She was not confused - more like extremely dizzy.
"I'll be alright" she replied. "That was some maneuver, you did. Thanks for saving my life!"
"My pleasure, but don't get a habit on that." he smiled but he did not receive one in response.
Her thoughts were racing - rage mixed with desire for revenge. Somewhere in between a fear was taking part - she had lost everything - her command, her ships, her friends.
"I see an LN plaque on your uniform, captain. I may have missed some, but I assume this is Liberty Navy?" she asked in a firm voice. It felt weird, has it been that long?
"Yes ma'am. The South Alliance, as you know it, merged with the Northern Alliance forming the Liberty Navy. This is de facto the iron hand of the Sirius Sector".
"I would imagine so" she smiled unnoticeably. "We spent long days at the Connecticut Proving Grounds with them... NA i mean" - yes things have changed. "I need to speak with the admiral of LN, could you arrange that?"
"Yes, I could... actually, many things happened in the three hours you were out." he waited for a response but did not get one. "A meeting was held between the Leadership Command of the LN in order to discuss your possible reintroduction."
She was looking at him with a stone serious face. "I would predict that I am stripped of my rank and given the standard sign-up bonus of ten mil?" Styler's eyes hinted a little surprise.
"Well..." she continued, "Things are not that different after all - I expected this." There was no regret in her words. Slowly, the rage in her was transforming into motivation. "So... that would make me an ensign, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am"
"In that case..." she raised her arm in a salute, feeling her torn skin move below the bandage. "Sir, please give my thanks to the body of command for allowing me to rejoin the ranks of the Liberty Navy! I will serve the LN with the best of my abilities."
He saluted back "Welcome back, ensign!" He stood there for several seconds and shouted "Get a medic over here!" Her right-hand bandage was dripping blood quickly.
Four medics stormed the room pushing Styler back and trying to attend their patient. When she looked back, he was already gone.
![[Image: admiral-ana-jane.png]](http://www.sa-anaes.com/admiral-ana-jane.png)
![[Image: laws.png]](http://www.sa-anaes.com/laws.png)
![[Image: sa-lns-nevada.png]](http://www.sa-anaes.com/sa-lns-nevada.png)