Feeling incredibly uncomfortable with handcuffs now holding her arms behind her, Ambre was left at their mercy. She didn't expect Elizabeth to pull a move like that so suddenly and casually in the middle of a conversation. Damn it! The small moment she let her guard down, this happened. She couldn't even resist as Mayer's weight was keeping her down. She grunted in frustration before Mayer let her go. "What the hell?!"
It was only later she noticed some additional weight on her shin. She took a moment to inspect the tracking device - It was quite bulky, about the size of of a hand. It was quite advanced, seeing the results on the tablet that the ESRD captain was showing. The woman returned her view and gave a scornful glance at the two, her hands behind her.
Elizabeth turned around to go open the door and led the way through the corridor as Mayer accompanied Ambre. As they went through the halls, there were little to no other people apart from any occasional nurse. It was her first time after a day or two that she got to get out of the med-bay room. The rather quiet med-bay halls were a good start, but soon they were going to be passing through the main deck quarters and then all the way to the Hangars. "This way." Elizabeth guided to the elevator after a turn to the right instead of moving to the living quarters and offices section. Ambre was escorted by Mayer inside as Elizabeth entered last and pressed the main deck level.
The doors closed. Now Ambre could only speculate about what their next stop was and only imagine on what was ahead, apart from all the thoughts going in her head. Between escape and uncertainty. Naturally, being nervous. Looking at that Elizabeth helped a bit. "The stop is the Main deck. Take a look around if you will. It's a good sight."
The elevator doors opened up again.
The main deck was a busy level. Most people were busy attending their roles in communications, system maintenance and so on. In the middle of the hall of the somewhat large deck, were some hardware installations. numerous holographic displays that crewmen would visit everytime they needed something, and a directional office more to the side. Surrounding that were the workstations for the crew men, as well as several large blast windows. Right after that was a short elevated shaft and a few stairs and an open security door to the bridge, where navigation, piloting, and the war room were located.
A few moments after they came out of the door, Elizabeth teasingly asked Ambre. "Enjoying the view, Amber?" Intentionally turning her name into english again, before turning to Mayer. "Mayer, I need to get to the bridge, talk something out with the current XO, Captain Jensen and get in touch with HQ." She briefly gazed at Ambre and then at the main deck. "Wait for me at the Hangar. I'll sort this out."
As she started moving towards the bridge she continued. "Start preparing the ship, I'll be back in no time!" Her hurried walk turned into a light run.
"My name is Ambre!" she shoted at Elizabeth as she was running away. As the captain ran past a door that closed after her, Ambre's attention switched back to the deck. It wasn't hard to notice personnel staring, gossiping with each other as they looked her way. In retrospect, yelling in a Gallic accent while wearing handcuffs wasn't a very smart idea on the busy floor. What she was seeing would be an absolute treasure trove for intelligence agents, seeing how their warships organise and function on the interior would be crucial advantage to the Kingdom. For Ambre, however, it was more of an experience of anxiety as she overviewed the busy room. She was in the belly of the beast, completely alone and far away from home.
She recoiled slightly as someone grabbed her arm and started pushing her to move, turning her head to see Mayer being the culprit. She sighed and tried to regain composure as she began walking where the man guided her. Overstaying here would be a terrible idea.
"I don't suppose you want wait here in the open with all the eyes looking at you.“ John guided Lachance a spot where most of the deck wasn't in sight. Eyes followed them each step while they moved along. "Most of the people here want you dead. And some of them even have a damn good reason to." Stating the obvious, he looked to the crowd that had gathered on the other end of the side of the deck. In the crowd there were even some guards that pointed at Lachance. As John looked away from the crowd, he noticed a guard standing in their path. "Sir I'd like you to stop. May I ask where you're bringing that gaul?""You may ask but the answer is simple. I move her out of the sight from the rest of the deck.""And who might you be to move the prisoner somewhere else?""The name's Captain John Mayer, thank you for your time but I have to get going now.""Sir yes, I'm sorry to interrupt you." The guard stepped aside and let both of them pass to continue their path.
As soon as they reached the quieter spot John mentioned, he turned over to Lachance. "This should be a bit more comfortable while we wait. I can only imagine how hard it must be to get those looks from the whole deck." He leaned against the wall as he usually does while he waits. Taking out a small communications device out of his pocket he messaged DeGrange. "Miss DeGrange, Mayer here, I moved with our guest down the hall. I think exposing her to the crew isn't the best idea at the moment." As soon as he was finished, he put the device back in his pockets. His gaze moved over the small part of the main deck that was visible, spotting the a part from the crowd they saw on their way down the hall. A part of the crowd seemed to have followed them down the hall. The guards were still within the crowd and three of them started to move towards the John and Lachance.
"Hey you! What do you think you're doing with that piece of scum?" Three armored guards now stood in front of John and Lachance. "I don't suppose your posts are here. I suggest you get back to them and leave the matter for the higher ranking personnel.""The higher ranking ones? I think this is a matter that has to be dealt with now and the only way to deal with scum like that, is a bullet right between the eyes." The overambitious guard now held his gun up and started to smirk. "You do know that disobeying orders can have sever consequences. I suggest you get back and we forget about all this.""Oh, and who might you..." The guard stopped as soon as he looked closer at John and realized that he was talking to a captain. John's face was grim as he looked at the guard. "Excuse me, I will get back to my post now." Stuttering the guard answered and lowered his gun. All three of them now seemed to be in a hurry and started to haste back to their posts.
John clears his throat and looks to Lachance again. "Now that this is taken care of, we just have to wait for miss DeGrange." The crowd had moved on as soon as they saw the guards walking in a haste back to where they came from.
Elizabeth hastily came back from the bridge. At first she didnt seem to find them, only to figure out they had moved further away in the hall. She quickly approached them.
"I got in touch with command. We're cleared to move out." she noticed however a somewhat uneasy look on Mayer's face and did not hesitate to ask. "Everything okay?" Mayer nodded in response, telling her that the main deck was too much attention for them. Wasting no kore time she lead the way to the hangar elevators.
The hangar Elevator was on the other side of the deck. They had to go through a hallway to get there. The hangar elevator was quite bigger in size as it was also used to ferry supllies, ammunition, in order to keep the ship running. They got it. Elizabeth gave the right details and took at deep breath as the elevator started moving waiting in silence for the next deck.
After a slow ride on the heavy elevator, the view of a fee strike craft, systemically ordered and stacked on one another giving the hangars a uniform and organized. The mighty sight would catch ambre's attention, but it wouldn't last long. Before she knew it they got to the docking bay, where a ship was prepared to be moved into launching position.
As they moved towards it a few marines working in the docks approached them. DeGrange had anticipated that and proceeded to clarify them on what was going on. Shortly after they returned, Elizabeth motioned at the docks control cabin, signaling that they we're soon taking off.
She grabbed Ambre by her arm as she told Mayer. "Lets get on board. You'll be flyingus, I'll keep an eye on our.. guest." She shifted her look at ambre before taking her along in the freighters compartment while Mayer moved on to the flight cabin.
"All systems are check. Alright, LNF ESRD Eerie, you are cleared to proceed." That was the last message from flight control deck as they launched into space.
Elizabeth was now sitting next to ambre in a passager compartment aboard the freighter and contacted Mayer through the intra-comm. "Mayer, take us to Manhattan. Next destination is Hotel Bravo." She then turned her attention to Ambre. "How are you holding up?"
Ambre was exhausted from this entire ordeal. The venture to the ship caused a lot of stress, she knew that the Libertonians are unruly, but this was way beyond expectations. She might have been dead them and there if Mayer was a rank lower.
Hearing the word "Manhattan" certainly didn't make things any easier. Didn't they mention the planet in the same system, Los Angeles? "Manhattan, isn't that the capitol...? You deceiving liar! Where are you taking me now?!" Ambre lashed out. She would have probably looked more intimidating if she hadn't trying to fruitlessly get rid of the cuffs. A sense of dread washed over her as she realised she's going to the worst place imaginable. She had to do something quick.
Elizabeth stared at a distressed Ambre, fighting with the cuffs for a few seconds. Looking at that she let out a sigh. She stood up and put her hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Hey. They're not coming off loose now or something, so don't waste your energy on them." Taking a look at Mayer in the Piloting cabin she moved her attention back on Ambre. "We'll be going planet-side for a confirmation ."
As a few moments passed as Elizabeth sat down again. Mayer came up on the intercom. "Ma'am, we're almost there. We're initiating docking protocols." As she finished, Elizabeth continued to tell Ambre. "Stay calm and don't try anything silly. It will make it easier."
Soon enough the nudge of the docking clamps was felt on the ship. The sensation was a refreshment to Ambre's anxeity. They had arrived and she was still about to set foot on the unknown. As they got out of the ship, the first thing to welcome them was the breathtaking sight of the low orbit space elevator connected to the navy section of the mooring fixture. The sun was just grazing the horizion as it would soon rise. There was no time for sightseeing and stargazing, as they did not waste anymore time to get to the surface.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Finaly a breath of fresh air. Their military vehicle just arrived at the Fort Bragg entrance. The most welcoming was the huge Liberty flag in the middle of the base as Marines were going for their early morning run. Occupying the sight was some numberous block buildings, serving as the barracks for personnel and marines, only to be shadowed by the main offices building to the side and the other facilities on the back.
The vehicle came to a stop in front of the Main building. Officer's headquarters. Most of the people in the base appart from officers, were mostly working for a living, so they rarely had any business in the place.
That was Elizabeth's stop for now. Before getting out, she gave mayer a piece of paper on which she had written the address of the a building with a number for one of the Officer's resting residence rooms in the fort. "Take her there. Try to get some answers." Elizabeth said quietly to Mayer. As he received the paper she took a look at a Ambre being lost in it all. "I'll meet up with you there. Need to check in with Command first." She turned back to Mayer passing him the keys needed to release Ambre's handcuffs. "Take care of it. The Marines there should be of help if anything. Well, let's not waste anymore time." She opened the vehicle door and stepped outside. "See you there!" She shouted as she hastily went into the offices building.
Now it was up to Mayer to take her there, and hope he could get something out of her.
John handed the address DeGrange gave him to the driver and gave him the sign to drive on. Slowly the car started to move of the compound, passing some rookies on their morning exercises. "I do wonder how you train your soldiers." He didn't really look at Lachance when he started talking. His head was turned towards the window, looking at the rookies doing push ups with the shouting instructor in front of them. "I mean, sure, you probably punish your soldiers too if they mess up, trying to bring them into form and all. But there are certain things that do interest me. All Galic Navy pilots I met seem to have a certain point of view. Not that I say the Libertonians are different, but your ideals seem to be more fixed and it certainly feels like a uniform point of view. Are you forced to act and think a certain way about us sirians?" He still was looking out of the window, not noticing at all how Lachance reacted. He watched the trees that went past the car, the buildings that seem to never end and the occasional officer or soldier standing at the road. It was a calm morning in this part of town, less trafic and most of the inhabitants already left their houses and apartments. This is no usual sight since this part of town is specifically reserved for the officers and some of the service men across the Navy and the Police.
Besides his question, John didn't said much, he kept looking out of the window, waiting for the car to arrive. Suddenly the car went quiet and the outside world seemed to have stopped. "Sir, we arrived at the location Miss DeGrange gave you." John needed a second to realize what happened since he was lost in his thoughts. "Ah, yes, thank you." Still a bit distracted he opened the door and stepped outside, waiting for Lachance to follow. Clearing his throat, he looked over to the building and followed it with his eyes into the sky. "It is not what I had hoped for but that was all they wanted to 'offer'. I still hope this is better than the med bay on the Durango."
Both of them walked towards the entrance of the building that was guarded by a single women. As they approached the women stepped aside, revealing the door. John walked closer and held a chip card close to the door to unlock it. As the door opened they stepped inside and stopped for a moment. "Let me remove those handcuffs, you won't need them for now." John unlocked Lachance's handcuffs and placed them on the shelve next to the door, knowing they had sent someone to prepare the apartment and take care of the unneeded equipment they had used to transport Lachance. Stepping over to the elevator he pressed the single button to call said elevator. "I have to admit, it's not that bad if you think about it. I also had a stay around here and even though the apartments aren't the most luxurious ones around, they are still way better than most apartments you can get in close proximity to the barracks."
The first thing Ambre did was rub her hands where the handcuffs were, trying to ease the uncomfortable feeling. She had stayed absolutely silent throughout the entire trip, resigned and defeated. Instead of returning to her homeland, she was now in the heart of their enemy and she couldn't have done anything to prevent it.
She observed the town she was travelling through intently: it was completely populated exclusively by officers and soldiers, all carrying weapons of one kind or another. It seemed that the Libertonian daily routine was quite difficult, perhaps even more so than the Gallic regime. Then again, she hasn't seen many of the land outposts aside from the ones on Leeds, which were much higher security and a lot less lax. Regardless, these people would probably all want to shoot her on sight, much like the guards on the capital she woke up in. The entire trip has been incredibly draining for the pilot, having been threatened at gunpoint just on the way, and now with the crushing weight of the fact that she was way past the point of no return.
What surprised her is that the end destination was, in the end, something that's not a prison cell, an interrogation chamber or some execution ground. Why would they bring her here and keep their word? It's impossible to think that they'd treat all of their POWs this way. Regardless, she kept her silence as the elevator emitted a sound to signal that the elevator has arrived and the doors slowly opened.
As soon as the elevator was open, John entered and waved with his hand to signal Lachance to enter. Lachance entered right behind John who pressed the button to the 13th floor. "Right at the top of the building." John nodded and turned over to Lachance. "I can only imagine the view you got from the apartment. And since it is one of the highest buildings around you should also have a good look over Fort Bragg." He smiled and leaned against the wall of the elevator while turning his eyes to the ever growing number above the doors. Slowly but surely the number grew, the elevator vibrated and the altitude rose. After a fair time the doors opened again with a quite audible sound. Both of them left the elevator and proceeded walking towards the apartment. John held his ID-card in front of the scanner that was placed net to the door. With a quiet click the door unlocked and he opened the door.
The room was freshly cleaned. A couch stood in the middle of the small room that looked especially comfortable. There were a total of four doors in the apartment, behind them was the exit, up ahead, on the other side of the room was the bedroom. The door to the left lead to a small kitchen with a fridge. The last door, the one to their right lead to the bathroom that was also connected to the bedroom. Both of them looked around the room and saw the open door up ahead. Suddenly a person walked trough the door and looked strangely confused. "I didn't expect you so early, not that I mind Sir but I'm not quite done preparing the apartment. I still have to finish the bedroom.""No worries, the apartment tour can wait a bit longer." John smiled as he saw the man returning into the room. Before the man had vanished, he stopped and turned over to John again. "May I ask where Miss DeGrange is Sir? I though she would accompany you both.""We held at Fort Bragg and let her out. Seemed like she had to take care of something. According to her, she'll arrive later." With a quick nod, the man vanished fully in the room and closed the door.
John moved his hand in a way to show Lachance to take a seat on the couch. As she walked over to the couch he took a turn and walked into the kitchen. He opened the fridge, took a bottle of water out and placed them on the counter. He reached into one of the cupboards and took out two glasses, placing them next to the bottle on a small tray. Lastly he opened the fridge again and put some ice cubes into the glasses. Back out of the kitchen he place the tray on the small table in front of the couch. As usual he filled the two glasses and handed one to Lachance and asked her a question. "So, what do you think? It still is quite comfortable for its size, don't you think?"
