Teiru's Report

Surreptitiously wiping away tears, Teiru marched down the hall of the prison in a quick-stepping fury, blasted out the exit and stormed into the administrative office. Waiting for her there were Major Gennai Garder, 3rd Lt. Vee, Lt. Pata, and a female Datan from the Military Intelligence Psychology department.

Taking a small voice recorder from her pocket, Teiru handed it to the Major, resisting the urge to hurl the thing into one of the walls instead of placing it in his waiting hand. "It's all there, sir," she told him stiffly, "I'm afraid there's not much useful information regarding the Viralians' strength though." Then she turned and went to stand facing the door-away from the others.

Garder frowned at her behavior, handing the recorder in order to set it to 'rewind'.

"Don't worry, Captain Ange. I'm sure you never told him anything important he could have passed on." He nodded at the others. "Lieutenants, if you will step out for a moment, I'd like to talk with Captain Ange alone? Please stay, Lt. Palma."

Vee and Patty went outside and shut the door, exchanging looks as they did so.

No sooner had the lock clicked into place than their best pilot rounded on her superiors.

"You knew!"

Gennai nodded, "If you are referring to Captain Mera, yes, Teiru. I knew. Or to be more accurate, I had my suspicions. Not all of us are still as wet behind the ears as you. Some of us old codgers have been around awhile."

When she grimaced at his bit of humor and continued to glare at him, he tapped his pen's tip against his desktop and got down to business. "Basically, about thirty years ago-early into the war-we Vaccyne's managed to wallop the enemy pretty darn hard. In fact, we thought we had them well on the way to surrendering air supremacy to us, when this fighter team showed up and started decimating us in return. Intelligence had a hell of a time getting anything on what had happened. "Bloody Skull Team" our informant said. Well, we knew that Belial was their top flier and his code name was 'Bloody Nightmare', but who the hell was this 'Skull'? Our informant took his sweet time getting back to us, but when he did we thought at first he had changed the code we had agreed on. I mean, a 14-year old Datan was helping Belial blast gaping holes in our defense? It was common knowledge that the Viralian's never stooped to using 'inferior' material for their pilots-only Viralians were trained for fighter planes. But the informant confirmed it: 'Bloody Nightmare' had chosen some hot shot kid named 'Skull' as his second and, yes, he was undeniably Datan."

Lt. Palma grunted, "For months, we sent airmon to try to gun them down, but they were too good. And then, only a couple of years after 'Bloody Skull' appeared, they vanished. Oh, Belial was still around, but his partner had changed back to a Viralian and we couldn't figure out why or what had become of the Datan. Even our informant was mystified. Records of 'Skull' disappeared like water vapor in the summer. We figured he'd either been killed by chance fire or died of illness. At any rate, my superiors weren't saddened at the loss. It wasn't until Lt. Tento brought us a copy of the research that Vee had requested that we learned that 'Skull' was in reality one William Mera-and that he had been living right under our noses for the past year as your stunt pilot friend."

Teiru found herself smirking rather darkly at the womon. "I bet that was a real 'Sacred Sludge!' kind of moment for MI."

"Certain personnel are experiencing ringing in the ears and promotional worries, yes." Lt. Palma admitted rather ruefully. I imagine it was the same thing for you?"

Grunting a reluctant 'yeah', Ange turned to the Major and asked, "If you were suspicious of Wizard, why didn't you arrest him before?"

Gennai sighed heavily. "As I said, I only had my suspicions. There was no proof that he was anything other than what he said he was. A background check uncovered nothing, and various surveillance officers assigned to watch him confessed that they wished their own kids were as clean. He didn't drink, carouse, or try snooping around off limit areas. In fact," Garder chuckled, "the only bad thing he ever did was his nightly sneaking back into Hawk's compound to be with that ancient relic of his. Considering that the old windbag, was charging him near double rent than he was his Vaccyne customers, I didn't feel inclined to begrudge him his fun-especially since the only harm he seemed to be accomplishing was depriving my best pilot of some extra cash at the local diner."

Teiru fought down a blush.

"By the way," Palma put in, "MI gives you our thanks for keeping him occupied during those meal times so that we could do regular checks of his possessions and the hangar."

"Glad to have helped. It seems MI needs all it can get," Teiru sniped back. They glared at each other.

"All right-that's enough! Would you two quit the rivalry?" Gennai barked out at the pair of womon.

The two officers froze at attention. "Sir, yes, sir!"

"Bad enough we have the one war waging outside, we don't need one in my office," the grumbling base commander reminded them. "Now, Ange, I had your word for it that you told him nothing about our activities nor did he ever ask. The upshot of it is that we simply had no evidence with which to pursue the matter." He indicated the door. "Please call your mon back in."

After Teiru let Vee and Pata back into the office, the Major spoke to younger pilots about why they had been summoned as well.

"I wanted you two here because you, Vee, were he one who started this whole ball rolling, and you, Pata, were assigned to watch over your team mate and sister-duties that you carried out very well. You've both to be commended."

Ange hissed and glanced icily at her brother, who gulped nervously under her scrutiny. "He did what?"

"Before you claw into him, Captain," Gennai chuckled, "I'm the one who ordered Pata to spy on you for your safety, not because I thought you untrustworthy. All of your mon were concerned about your well being, Captain. You should be proud of having such a loyal team."

"I know it," Teiru admitted, still a bit ruffled that Pata would have spied on her like that even for a good reason.

"Then you won't mind if they hear what is on this tape as well as Lt. Palma and I?"

Teiru crinkled her nose. "It's Wizard's confession not mine. You should be asking him if he wants his privacy invaded further."

"I'll take that as a 'no'." Garder passed the small recording machine that Teiru had given him over the MIP. "Now, Lt. Palma, let's see what you and the rest of us can make of what's on that."

The medi/tactical officer nodded and switched on the device so that they could all hear Captains Ange and Mera's conversation. Teiru shut her eyes and tried not to listen to his tale of horror-the once had been enough-not to mention what Wizard would think of her if he found out he'd just spilled his guts to not only her and the base V.I.P.s, but to Dragon and Patty as well.

When the tape ended, Lt. Palma clicked it off, a frown creasing her delicate features.

"Well?" Garder asked-not impatiently. "Was he telling the truth or not?"

"On the surface, yes, I believe so. And his story matches what we know of Viralian impressment practices amongst the Datans under them. As for this 'Dae', we've heard vague reports that such a person exists." She clicked her tongue thoughtfully. "However, he is still hiding something from her. There were several instances where his voice inflections altered significantly when referring to Captain Belial.

"Probably because that's still his commanding officer despite what he says in that thing," Vee huffed.

Garder held up his hand, demanding quiet from all but the MIP.

"Meaning?"

"I detected fear and a sense of betrayal, Major."

"Gee-ya think?" Teiru said sarcastically. Sure, she was mad at Wizard for not trusting her with who he really was from the start, but she hated having to tape his confession without his knowledge. And now this group deciphering of it felt obscene: it was nothing less than a rape of his privacy. This was especially distasteful now when she was convinced that what he'd told her in confidence was the truth.

Lt. Palma tapped the little recorder. "I don't mean the fear of a subordinate of his commander's displeasure or that same sense of betrayal when trust is broken between coworkers, Captain Ange. It is very likely that Captain Mera had a much closer relationship with Belial than that of mere comrades in arms."

"Oh, sludge…!" Teiru breathed, understanding the other womon's meaning right away and wishing she didn't.

Vee growled low in his throat. "You mean they were 'comrades in arms' in more than the 'traditional' sense, I take it?" Such relationships were frowned upon by Vaccyne society. "No wonder the guy decided to keep that information to himself. He's not only a murderer- he's a bloody pervert!"

Lt. Palma scowled at the airmon. "Thank you for your opinion, Lieutenant; however, I don't believe Mera was the one who initiated that part of their… collaboration. Datans under the Viralians are only tolerated for their-as he put it here-'usefulness' and blonde hair and colored eyes have always been a favorite combination of Viralians." She smirked humorously. "It wasn't hard to come up with a hypothesis on what he was leaving out: Belial was using him in more ways than one and Mera didn't like it but had no real say in the matter. Do you always jump to hasty conclusions, Dragon?"

"At least I don't forget to relay vital troop information to my wing leader before she goes out on a mission." Vee swiped back. He looked thoughtfully into space as he considered what she'd said. "So that's why Belial had him classified as a 'deleted' and not killed: he didn't want to lose his…" Vee trailed off when he saw Teiru making 'cut it' gestures and drawing his attention to her brother.

Pata was looking a little green.

'Poor kid,'-Vee sympathized. Pata was a bit young yet to be subjugated to such revelations about the seamier side of life. Damned Viralians and damned war that made growing up fast such a necessity.

"Well, that explains why he preferred to sleep in Thunderball or the floor rather than in the cot I got for him," Teiru murmured to herself before looking up to face them all: the mon associated a real bed with sexual abuse rather than sleep. Poor Wizard! All those terrible experiences bottled up inside for years because there was no one who'd have any sympathy for him. "So, Major, what happens now? If you send him to a Viralian P.O.W. camp, he'll likely die at their hands-no Captain Belial around to assure a Datan 'deleted' wasn't hurt. They'd eat him alive."

"You're not seriously thinking that we should just let him go?" Vee asked her.

She looked defiantly back. "Why not, Vee? He hasn't done anything wrong."

"Nothing wrong? He's an enemy pilot! Hell, he's more than that-he's an ace enemy pilot whose destroyed-"

"Was an enemy pilot, Dragon." Teiru interrupted his tirade. "You can't condemn him for doing what he had to do to survive in that hell hole. Even Palma is giving him that."

Silently standing and watching the whole argument, the psychologist raised an eyebrow in muted humor. "Nice to know I'm not considered a total cactus thorn."

"Now who's using hasty judgment," Vee smirked nastily at her.

Having heard enough of this bickering, Major Garder rapped his pencil jar against his desk, startling his two best airmon and the MIP into silence; waving the pale-looking Lt. Pata to go ahead and sit in one of the chairs before he fainted or something. (Youngster was a wonder in combat situations, but these 'domestic battles' were ones he had trouble dealing with.) "People, can we return to constructive conversation? I tend to agree with Captain Ange in that he no longer means harm to us." He glanced at Lt Palma who nodded her agreement. "However, he's far too valuable an asset to let loose."

"He said he doesn't want to fight," Teiru reminded him. "He's obviously sick of killing."

Palma snorted. "Desire it or not, your friend may not have a choice there, Captain. Changing your name and morals doesn't change everything. As much as I'd like to believe that our security is air tight, I know better. How long before the Viralians realize that one of their former ace pilots-who was trained in and knows all about their top flying units' fighting maneuvers-has been arrested, yet neither incarcerated in a camp nor executed?"

Teiru's eyes went wide. "They'll probably send an assassin if they know he's alive. And I'm the one who blew his alias! Oh…gods. I've as much as thrown a flare up to show them his location!"

Vee looked chagrined. "Actually, Teiru-that was my doing, remember?"

"It doesn't matter," Garder informed them. "What matters is that Mr. Mera is a commodity that we daren't let out of our sight. I'm sure that under the circumstances, you, Teiru, will be able to convince him to officially join our cause?"

"Wizard doesn't like to be pushed into anything, sir."

"Then try using a carrot instead."

"Sir?" Teiru blinked at him in confusion.

"Do you know how long the MIP's had been grilling him without getting so much as a grunt before I told them to stop and sent for you? I may be old, but I'm not blind, Captain. That was one heck of a…maneuver you planted on him back at the diner," the Major chuckled, pulling out the cleaned-up friendship ring from his desk drawer and holding it up by the chain. "And I believe he gave this particular item to someone in this room." Gennai admired the glittery little trinket. "Nice piece. Not the kind of something a mon gives to a womon on a whim." He looked hard into Teiru's eyes. "I didn't send you in there, Captain, for no reason, you know. Mera likes you-a lot." He tapped the ring, making it spin on its chain. "In fact, I'd say he likes you a trifle more than a lot. If anyone can sway him over, I believe it is Captain Teiru Ange, who in one William Mera's eyes was worth giving a valuable antique to."

Valuable antique? Teiru blinked, eyeing the twirling ring.

Gardner's mouth twisted into a smile. "Unless you'd object to having him on your squad?"

Tearing her eyes away from Wizard's gift, Teiru blushed, wishing she'd been more discreet. Likely the base grapevine had spread the story of her glomping the Data all over the town by now! She took the jewelry and placed it back over her neck, tucking it under her shirt. "No objections, sir."

"Now, wait a minute!" Vee exploded. "He's still… I mean…" Seeing Teiru's pleading look he sputtered into silence, casting pleading eyes heavenward. "Oh, okay… I guess I owe the guy a bit of fuel line. But if he so much as hums a bar of the Viralian anthem I'm going to ventilate his flight suit!"

"Thanks, Dragon." Teiru said, planting a chaste kiss on his cheek before addressing her superior. "Permission, Major, to go on a scouting mission?"

"Permission granted." Major Garder smiled in approval. "Oh, and Captain Ange? Good hunting."