SALVATION

Copyrights 343 Industries & Bioware

Rated A for Adult

Additional Sources:

- Daia's Asari Wiki

- CerberusDaily News Wiki

- Halo/Mass Effect Wiki

All credits to their respective owners.

(V4.0)

1304 hours, March 4th, 2595 (military Calendar)

Ministry of Defense, Calais, Arcadis

Eidera System, (Sector L-421), Outer Colonies

"Why didn't you tell me before Charlotte," William snapped angrily at her.

"Because it wouldn't have changed anything if you found out 2 months ago or yesterday," she replied in a calm voice. Her avatar was floating a little over his desk and her doe brown eyes were watching him closely.

"Really? I could have used the time to start looking for a replacement."

He got up and now leaned angrily on his desk. Staring down at her smaller frame.

Charlotte could somewhat understand his displeasure, but at the end of the day it was still her decision to make.

"With all due respect, sir. It was my decision to make and a very private one, neither is it in confrontation with any laws of the UNSC or the UEG if that's what you are concerned about." During the last months of working with her new admiral, she had quickly learned how to handle his temperament.

She also knew he would calm down relatively quickly as long she stayed calm and composed. Grand fell back in his chair with a sullen face.

The year had started rather well, Peterson had set up the first RSO stations near the border and put them into operation after a short but successful testing phase.

In Orbit around Agrion Captain Delany started modernizing the first ships a little more than a month ago. Some were nearly done, with only a few more weeks left in the ship yards.

Miss Enfield's little pilot project developed rather smoothly as well, even after some troubles at the beginning.

At the moment he was fairly happy that she was currently in school and didn't have to listen to his little outburst of anger.

When she wasn't in the military academy taking classes, she was here in the office, helping with whatever work he got for her.

What Enfield couldn't finish was left to him or Charlotte, a condition that should not last, but finding good and discreet staff was not an easy task. Most senior officers and government officials have been in their jobs for decades and were only replaced when absolutely necessary.

Most of them were handpicked anyway. There was no job advertisement for this kind of work.

"That's a disaster. Enfield is gone and so will you in a few weeks," he grumbled, still a little pissed.

The AI shoot him a look as if the man in front of her wasn't an admiral but a spoiled three-year-old who couldn't get his way. She shook her head in amusement and tucked a strand of brown hair behind her left ear.

"May I continue Admiral?"

"More bad news?" He interjected with a complaining voice.

She just rolled her eyes. "If you let me finish you will find out." Her voice grew a little colder at the end and he realized that she probably had enough of his behavior, even if most of it was only harmless banter.

She had an angel's patience with him, and for that he had to be more than grateful.

"Pardon. Please go on."

"Thank you. So, as I said, I will quite my work on April 31st. I have already arranged a replacement. She will take over my work form 1st of May. With your permission of course."

"What's her name?"

"Julia. A terribly young AI, but she seems to be a very friendly girl. She was only activated a few days ago and is currently going through her final testing phase. Unlike me, she is specialized in ships navigation and space battles."

The artificial Intelligence must have seen his doubts on his face.

"Give her a chance sir, that's all I ask."

"What about you," he asked with an undertone of concern in his voice. "You know I highly value your company."

"Don't worry my admiral, you won't get rid of me that easily," she replied with a sweet smile, touched by his genuine words.

"I thought you wanted to quit service." Curious about her words he straightened up in his armchair.

"I still do, but there is nothing wrong with starting a new career after I got transferred into my new biological body. Wouldn't you agree? Its rather boring if you don't have anything to do."

"Do you have anything special in mind?"

"Hmm."

Every newly activated AI was given a job depending on their individual skills. Most of them were recruited into the UNSC, serving as ship AIs or for bureaucracy jobs like Charlotte. Artificial Intelligences were everywhere, no military or civilian part could work at peak efficiency without them.

After around ½ of their lifespan in service they were given the choice to apply for a transfer into a fully biological body to begin a whole new life. They were also provided with a considerable amount of money for their work.

It was a compromise made by the UEG and the AIs after the AI rebellion ended.

After that they were free to do whatever, they want. The chances on the job market were also far better than for normal citizens. Due to their high intelligence and experience they were extremely valuable for big companies. They tried to lure them with horrific sums and additional benefits – sums he could not pay her.

A few others got into politics, trying to improve people's lives they served before.

A woman with a variety of qualifications like Charlotte could work anywhere in the human realm, it was highly unlikely that Grand could sway her to stay if she didn't want to.

"You know I always enjoyed the quidded tours we offer, especially with children. But first will search for a job close to this one. Kind of like a secretary's job maybe."

Secretary? Jobs like that were like sand on the beach. Confused William rubbed his neck.

"Well, you shouldn't have any problems finding one," he said hesitantly looking at her.

She apparently found his confusion very funny and giggled briefly. "I agree shouldn't be a problem. Even better, however would be a job that I am already familiar with."

"You mean in the UNSC," he asked after a few seconds. She just smiled and nodded shortly.

"We can check the job market at waypoint?"

His suggestion only earned him another set of soft laughter.

"Don't bother sir, it's not even out yet. Officially at least. Since you are a little bit slow today, I give you another hint. A Navy officer with the service number 25120-20167-WG is currently thinking about employing a new assistant. At least after the files on his computer."

The service number was oddly familiar. The letters at the end stood for the first name and last name.

"You wanna stay?"

"If I am allowed of course," she replied with an innocent lock that he couldn't escape. "Besides, without my help you would be completely and hopelessly lost and I am not that cruel."

"Its not that bad and you know it."

The look he earned immediately silenced him again. After a month-long honeymoon period at the start of his new job, Grand had to learn pretty quick who was in charge of their relationship. And it wasn't him apparently.

"All right, all right." He opened a few files on his pc and searched for the standard employment contract of the UNSC.

"I can sign it right away," she suggested.

"Sorry, but you have to verify it withy your biological fingerprint. It's handled like a new contract. Don't ask me why." William closed the document and mailed it to her.

The brunette AI shrugged. "I leave you to your work." Her hologram dissolved without further words. He looked at the clock. Half past two, still enough time to do some remaining work.

Normally, he should already be on his way to see Governor Brudell, with whom he had an appointment every two weeks, discussing the most important and latest developments in the sector. Mostly military stuff, but it randomly drifted to other topics as well. Today's topic should have been the armed forces budget increase and how he intended to distribute it between the three branches.

The two also wanted to evaluate the first results from the Liang-Dortmund research flights together. The results were more than promising – at least Hibbert had said that quite happily. Honestly, he didn't care if they found a rock more or less as long as the promised funds were transferred in time. But he assumed that the better the reports were, the more likely it would be that LDC invested more money in the sector.

As far as he knew, the mega corporation had already bought huge commercial spaces on different planets in order to build factories and office complexes in the near future.

Since the governor was unable to attend their meeting today, he probably had to devote himself to other tasks.

"Five cargo ships should be enough to transport the additional materials. Or better six?" The admiral muttered absently to himself, while he stared thoughtfully at the documents in front him. Not the most interesting part of his daily work, but still.

"Hmm. Five ships should be enough!" He pressed his thumb onto the scanner to confirm his orders and sent them to the officer in charge. Subconsciously he reached out with his left hand to take another sip of his tea.

The mug was a welcome gift from Enfield and Charlotte. How the two knew that his favorite think to drink was tea instead of coffee, he didn't know. However, he only noticed the empty porcelain cup as it already touched his lips. With an irritated grumble he put it back onto the table.

'Where the hell is she when you need her the most,' shot it through his head. Her classes were long over, Enfield should have been here for over an hour. It wasn't required, but his Lt. always worked for a few more hours at the ministry.

Hoping she would walk straight through the door any second now with a full teapot in her hand, he continued working for a few more minutes.

But since it didn't look like it would happen anytime soon, he finally got up and walked to his newly constructed living area right next door.

He pushed open the wooden door, which connected his office to his private quarters. In addition to a small living room, he now also had a spacious bedroom, an exclusive bathroom with a shower and a kitchen.

He was lucky, the kettle was still running and all he had to do was to take one of the tea bags and put it into the cup. Satisfied that he had successfully completed the almost unsolvable task, even without Enfield's help, he made his way back to his desk.

In any case it was better if he would make his own tea again form now on. As soon as Charlotte had taken over Enfield position a different wind would be blowing in his office. Grand was pretty sure that he would make the drinks for her instead and not the other way around.

A faint noise outside made him pause and William listened to the muted laughter coming from the corridor outside his place.

Just as he had put down his cup, the door was pushed open and a visibly good-humored Lorena came in backwards with two tall black-haired men tailing behind her.

Neither of them seemed to be on duty according to their style of clothing. Only when he gave a short cough the laughter died away and three heads turned in his direction. Finally, William did recognize at least one of the two men – Petty Officer Coats. What a surprise.

He still didn't recognize the taller one tough.

The man was about the same size as Brudell, but he was far better trained than the politician. The lad was a fucking monster – even for an ODST.

"Sir, shouldn't you be attending a meeting with the governor," stammered the blonde woman, visibly taken by surprise by the presence of her superior.

"He was unable to attend," he replied calmly.

"Oh. I didn't know that." Obviously. His gaze wandered to Coats and his friend behind her.

"Petty officer Coats it is nice to see you again."

"Likewise, sir," he replied cautiously.

"Can I help you three with anything," he asked kindly. Fully aware how unconfutable they looked.

"No thank you sir. We casually pumped into Lieutenant Enfield at the academy and she was kind enough to offer us a ride."

"Our hotel is very close," added the stranger.

Yeah sure. Bot of them were lying through their teeth. "Just randomly you say." William looked at the young woman who was awfully quiet and stared at the wall behind him, which only reinforced his suspicion Coats was lying.

The ODST exhale audibly and gave his buddy and Lorena a pleading glance for help.

"We're on shore leave right now and I figured I could pay Miss Enfield a visit. Of course, I take full responsibility if I prevented her from doing her duties," the soldier finally admitted.

"Coats is not to blame sir," his blonde officer intervened in the conversation. "I completely lost track of time."

"I see." He knew the past few months had been though for her. The Navy academy was hard, especially for somebody joining in the middle of the year. The only positive thing was that her exams would not be included in her final grades – an exception Grand had negotiated with the academy.

After that, she usually joined him at the Ministry for four to six hours. Not counting her additional hours, she used for studying and preparing. Her days didn't leave much room for spare time or leisure and since Lorena was a very ambitious person, she was only satisfied with the best possible results.

Grand had to admit that he had other things on his mind when he was a lieutenant. He admired the young woman for her endurance.

"Who is your friend anyways Chief," William asked, finally changing the subject.

"Hmm? – Oh, this is Shepard. An old friend of mine, our parents have known each other since we were little." He grinned mischievously. Brothers in crime so to say.

"John Shepard sir." His blue eyes fixed on his.

"Shepard? Heard that name somewhere recently."

"You probably think of my mother – Hannah Shepard. She is the current captain of the Einstein."

"Isn't the Einstein currently in stationary orbit?" Grand couldn't remember all of the ships, but he stumbled over them at least once in the past months. The Einstein is one of five operational Orion-class Carriers which were under his command.

"Correct sir."

"Are you stationed on the ship as well, Shepard?"

"That wouldn't last long sir." The ODST paused for a moment. "My mom is a great woman, but I couldn't imagine her as my superior officer." He laughed briefly at the thought running his left hand through is dark, neatly trimmed short hair.

"I am stationed on the Nightfall, together with the rest of my team. After the complete overhaul of the frigate, we were ordered directly to Arcadis." Shepard shrugged casually. "She got some nice upgrades though. Energy shields, a better MAC, stronger armor and even a new chef. Since then, you can eat in the mess again without getting a stomach ache."

The two seemed to be good fellas – for hell jumpers at least and that should mean something.

"Can I ask a favor of you Admiral Grand," he suddenly asked out of nowhere.

"A favor?"

"Just a little one sir. Shouldn't be a problem for a man in your position."

"Let's hear it Chief. Can't promise you anything though."

"Could you approve Coat's request for a transfer?"

Lorena perked up when he finished and the other ODST winced briefly. "Are you fucking crazy John," he hissed lowly at his buddy. Shepard seemed to ignore him completely and stilled stared at William, waiting or an answer.

Grand crossed his arms behind his back and leaned a little on the table he was standing in front of. His gaze broke away form Shepard's face and wandered over to his still curious looking Lt., then to Coats who was standing next to her with his lips tightly pressed together. He could imagine why the soldier wanted to be transferred.

"Why?"

"Because I would be closer to my family and friends," he finally replied.

"I am correct to assume that you want to be in the Chief's team on the Nightfall?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'll see what I can do." Coats could hardly believe it and Lorena's face was beaming with happiness.

"I owe you sir," he told Grand after he recovered from the shook.

"I may come back to that." William turned around and made his way back to his office.

"Enjoy your day, Miss Enfield," he called over his shoulder, indicating that their conversation was over and they could leave.

Only when the door closed with a soft click and the footsteps in the corridor became quieter, he did turn around again. "Charlotte please approve Coat's transfer to the Nightfall, but don't send it yet. Let them squirm a little bit."

"With pleasure sir," came her amused voice from somewhere.

"Sir, there is a little incident at the main gate. It might interest you," Charlotte interrupted him bluntly and stood suddenly on his table without warning. It was rare for her to be so straight forward.

"Is anyone hurt," he asked with a worried expression on his face.

"No, nothing like that, but a persistent young woman would like to see you."

"I don't have any more meetings today that I know of, so who is the troublemaker?"

"Give me a moment." She snapped with her fingers, a holographic 3D model of a young, dark-skinned woman with full libs and two large dark brown eyes in a shapely face appeared on the table.

"Strange," she whispered. Several small wrinkles had formed on her face, as if she was thinking hard. He drummed his fingers impatiently on the tabletop.

"What is it?"

"Her name is Anabelle Fredricks, 42 years young and currently serving as a major in the Army on Lunis."

"Lunis?"

"A colony a few dozen light years from Reach."

"Then what is she doing here in Calais?"

"Apparently she took a month off to travel here. She didn't say way."

Her face disappeared and was replace by the image of an active surveillance camera. The young chocolate skinned officer sat in one of the chairs inside of the reception building near the gate. She was still arguing with two soldiers, apparently questioning her. Two large suitcases and one smaller black handbag were lying on her feet.

It looked like she left her home world in quite a hurry.

"Any other guesses?"

Charlotte shook her head. "She just wants to talk to you apparently. In private."

"Is she armed?"

Again, the AI denied. "No weapons, knives or explosives. Her suitcases were x-rayed, only clothes, hygiene articles and a few small private items were discovered. Nothing unusual."

He turned in his chair and looked out of the large window behind his desk, from here he had a decent view at the building on the other site. Grand could ignore her without further consequences if he really wanted.

A quick message to the guards and they would throw her out. But he hardly believed it was the right thing to do. William had a nagging feeling she would stay in front of the gate all night, if she needed to.

She was an Army major as well, not just some wannabe grunt.

Hell, she even took all her vacation days. You didn't travel all the way to Calais for a nice chat. Not with all that stuff she brought.

What really worried him tough was that he didn't recognize her, but she seemed quite well informed about him.

"Here goes nothing, tell the guards to let her through."

A knock on the door announced the arrival of Miss Fredrick ten minutes later. Meanwhile he had gone through a dozen different scenarios in his head. He shouldn't have any loose ends, but you never know.

"Come in."

William pushed his thoughts away. The wooden door opened and a young solider stepped into the anteroom, followed closely by a second, carrying the two suitcases.

"Put the suitcases next to the sofa." The man followed the order without hesitation, before turning back to the entrance.

The two corporals were standing like bodyguards on both sides of the door, waiting for the major to step by.

The first thing he noticed when the young officer stepped inside was her watchful gaze, she seemed to absorb every detail around her. Like an eagle, which was about to pounce on its prey.

Fredrick came to an abrupt stop in front of his table. Her dark green army uniform was clean, no spotless, like it came straight out of cleaning. No wrinkles, no lint.

There were no medals or other decoration attached to her suite, only the golden insignias on her collar and shoulders. Her curly dark brown hair was pulled back in a simple but neat braid.

Neither of them spoke a word. The two guards were gone and suddenly the room was awkwardly quiet. Outside you could hear the muffled noises of clicking heels on marble floor and hushed voices talking to each other.

He turned back to his work. "Miss Fredrick you most likely don't know it, but I am not a fan of spontaneous visits. Even less from people I don't recognize." He looked up. Her face was blank. Her face completely unreadable for him.

"But I'm not an unkind person either, but there are certainly easier ways to get in contact with me."

William took a deep breath.

"At ease major. Grab a chair form over there and sit down."

Finally, she made began to move. Fredricks dropped her arm and went over to the couch area without a word.

"I can offer you tea or water?"

"Nothing, thank you sir." Her voice was clear and strong. Her hands were folded in her lap while she sat with an arched back in the armchair. I almost looked like she had a stick in her …. Maybe she was just tense.

"So major, how can I help you?" Her brown eyes studied him. The female soldier took her time to answer, as if she was afraid of saying the wrong thing.

"I wanted to …," she cleared her throat briefly. "I would like to know if the position you advertised is still available." Her voice was still clear and firm, but became a little quieter at the end.

A job? Grand couldn't remember anything like that. Everything related to the ground forces was mostly Lieutenant Colonel Sleet are of expertise. Sleet and a few other senior officers, as far as he knew.

He had to admit that it annoyed him greatly not to be better informed about the current situation of the army. There were still many areas inside the UNSC were the coordination and communication between the armed forces was decent at best.

Linwood was sadly no exception.

Each planet in this sector cooked its own soup. Only a few standards have been realized till now. Up to a certain point, self-administration was justified and necessary.

But Linwood lagged extremely behind in some of these areas. Especially in thing like equipment and armament.

Whole units in the Army and the Marines, still used equipment and vehicles from the great war. The same could be said about the weapons. The standard weapon today, and usually the first gun a newbie got his hands on during boot camp was an MA7B assault rifle.

Here, he only saw a few of them. Most soldiers were still equipped with an inferior variant of the MA5.

Even the special forces like the ODSTs weren't up to date. Shield systems have now become just as much a standard for Helljumpers and ordinary foot soldiers as arguments for muscles and reflexes.

At least in the Navy he was making progress. Not only the ships on Agrion were completely overhauled, but also their crews. He commanded Captain Delany to outfit every crew with best available gear.

Tens of thousands of old weapons were decommissioned and replaced by more modern ones, he especially paid attention to the Helljumpers. They were currently the only ones getting armor with energy shields.

The marines on the ships threw away all guns produced before 2565. That created at least a certain unity and reduced the amount of different gun variations extremely. It would certainly take months before he got more precise figures.

William tried to keep his plans for the Navy as simple as possible.

Most of the Ships could be upgraded, the rest would get recycled. After that, he would start to replace every old ship with their newer, more advanced up to the date equivalent.

He estimated the time for his plan to be around seven to eight years in total.

While the Navy's command structure was still functioning reasonably well and Grand could push his plans further every day, it was the complete opposite inside the Army. Chaos and disorder were on the daily agenda.

The structure of the Navy was relatively simple.

The responsibility of a ship, its crew, weapons, etc. was the captain's line of work. Larger bases or fleets were mostly commanded by a low-ranking admiral like himself. If, as in his case no more admirals were available, a senior officer could be put in charge.

A Fleet Captain or Captain of the Fleet was no official rank in the UNSC, more a temporary solution.

For the past few months, he appointed a Fleet Captain for each planet. For example, Delany as the officer in charge of Agrion and its newly built orbital yards and bases and Peterson, who is in command of the ships and stations at the border.

The whole thing had a nice side effect. Bevor that every Captain send him his individual report. About their current situation or the condition of the ship, the gear, the lack of personal etc.

Now, every Fleet Captain send him a weekly report about the most urgent matters.

This enabled him to react quicker, without filtering and comparing every individual report. Sooner or later, everything landed on his table, whether ships or Navy bases.

The Army and Marines had basically the same problem, just with a little difference. The first thing was the size of the ground forces. They were more than twice as bis as the other two branches combined, which created a certain natural disorder. The second point was that the Army is even more understaffed as the Navy or the Air Force. The lack of generals or experienced Colonels was worrisome.

The highest available rank was a Lieutenant Colonel, the equivalent of a Commander in the Navy.

In theory he could promote some of the men and women to full colonels. But to effectively get the Army on track again, he would need a lot more officers to fill the gaps.

William knew he had to do something sooner or later, but he didn't want to interfere in the internal affairs of the Army. He simply did not know much about it. It was UNICOMs job to appoint a General or better Generals.

He could handle the Marines if necessary. The Navy and Marines were closely tied together anyway.

Sadly, he was only a Rear Admiral (lower half) and without the approval of HIGHCOM he couldn't promote anybody higher than Captain, which was the rank directly under him.

Admiral Grand had a different plan. He would pick out some capable people like Lt. Colonel Sleet, then submit an application for a promotion to HIGHCOM. William hoped, that at least one of them would get promoted. Maybe even two if he was lucky. It would significantly boost the modernization of the sector and the complex processes which came with it.

But it would easily take several months or even a half a year to get any response form the top dogs of the UNSC. Something had to happen know.

"Admiral Grand?" He was startled for a second.

Miss Fredricks was still sitting in her chair in front of him, patiently waiting for him to answer.

"Well," he began, "I can't remember any recent job application."

The younger soldier shook her head, already slightly irritated. "A few months ago, you published a job offer on Waypoint. You were looking for someone with practical knowledge in improving and modernizing planetary buildings like bunkers, tunnels etc."

She handed him one of her data pads. On it was a short list of all completed study subjects and a short résumé as wall as a summarize of her career.

"I have a successful degree in civil engineering. Among them are some very useful modules such as reinforced concrete construction, building physics, statics and geotechnics. In addition, I attended other courses, e.g., tunnelling and bunker construction and passed them with good results."

She was smart, no question. Someone who studied something like that had to be.

Anabelle's grades were far from outstanding, but none of them were worse than a D and she only got one – in bridge building and construction. Bridges were certainly not at the top of his to-do list at the moment.

He pushed the pad back across the table.

"I am sorry Major but I don't think I can offer you a job which meets your expectations – yet," he admitted.

"Is it already taken?"

"No, it is still open."

"Then what is the problem sir? Am I not qualified enough?"

"No." In truth it was his mistake, a sloppy one and he had to admit that. William realized he should have defined the job request more precisely in order to avoid such misunderstandings from the beginning. He took a sip of tea, while he thought about how to explain his mistake.

"I am currently not looking for someone who can strengthen the team, I need someone to put it together first Major. There is no team I can put you in. I need – you know: someone who recruits people, travels from planet to planet and evaluates the existing conditions and then imitates the necessary steps with them. Every city needs a working defense plan in case of an invasion, including things like: evacuation plans for civilians, defense positions for AA guns and what not, supply routes for food etc."

With each of his words her face, which had been almost emotionless until now, became a little sadder. She seemed to realize that it was a more complex topic than it looked at the start.

"As you probably know Miss Anabelle, it is by no means easy to find a person with the necessary skills and experience and convince her or him to leave his current job and travel to the middle of nowhere. There are far simpler and easier ways to make money and you don't need to start completely from the beginning," he finished letting his words sink in. She didn't replay and he continued.

"I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience though. It was not my intention to lure you here with false promises and hopes, but I still wonder what you are doing here. You are currently working on Lunis, aren't you?"

She looked him in the eyes. He could clearly see the disappointment in them. "That's right Admiral. I was just hoping to find a more satisfying job than the current one I have on Lunis. Please don't get me wrong sir, the money is great and the colleagues are friendly, but …"

"Let me guess, you didn't fell needed. Right?" He guessed. She pressed her full lips together and nodded.

"Yes. Lunis is a flagship colony project, nothing is left to chance there. Everything was decided and planned by high-ranking officers who have far more experience and knowledge than me. Most of the time I just sat in the office and looked at the plans or visited the construction sites. Never got the chance of planning something myself.

After two years I finally started looking for a new job, but they were all nearly identical. Their requirements were ridiculous: 20 years professional experience paired with at least a handful of completed projects. I didn't want to sit idle in my office for the next two decades. I wanted to prove myself.

I thought for a long time, after I saw your offer. Eventually, I decided to take a vacation and traveled here."

A deep sigh escaped her lips. Tiredly she got up and walked towards his little bar.

"May I?" She pointed to an ancient whiskey bottle.

William waved with his hand, not really caring about the old bottle. "Knock yourself out."

"Thanks." She took one of the glasses out of the cupboard and poured herself two fingers breadth. The Major emptied the glass with just one toss, rinsed it with fresh water an put it back.

"Disgusting! I have always hated alcohol," she mumbled softly.

"It was one of my best."

"Sorry"

"Don't be."

She returned to her chair. Shook her head again in disgust and leaned on the backrests. "In retrospect, my decision to come here seems rather hasty … and stupid."

Grand looked at her, the confidence in her voice was now completely gone and she looked tired as fuck. The long travel tired her out probably.

"Gods I am stupid," she continued her monologue. "What was I thinking? That I can start right away and get my own project?"

"Did you ever work on something big like a planetary overhaul?" William asked absently, while writing down some points on his pad.

"No, not directly. I mean … every one of my construction sites was a part of it somehow. I attended some meetings where all of us met, discussing the individual parts. At least the top brass did, the rest of us was just sitting there and listing."

"So, you know what type of people I would need if I choose to assemble a team?"

"Yes, though it would definitely take a while. I mean the sector has over 20 planets. You shouldn't expect to much the first six month," she said.

Grand nodded. "I know, but I have to do something." William stood up and went over to the bar, searching for a whisky he could drink, without regretting it tomorrow or throwing up straightaway.

Turning back to her with a bottle in his hands he said: "What would you say if I offered you this job. You can put together your own team and start with this city. You answer only to me and Lt. Colonel Sleet and if you can convince us, you can overhaul every planet in the Linwood sector."

"I … I am flattered Sir, but I'm only a major and I would need dozens of people maybe hundreds to modernize a city completely. Thousands for the entire sector." She stared at him in shook, before rambling on. "I never oversaw a project this big."

Admiral Grand filled two glasses and held one out to her. "So what? I don't have a clue how to do it eighter. You are my best shoot I got in months."

Her forehead was furrowed as she considered the offer. It was the chance of a lifetime, she knew that. If she was successful, it could rally advance her career in the Army. However, if it failed, it could end it jus as quickly. There were a lot of credits at stake.

She didn't want to think about all the lives that depended on her plans and decisions in an emergency. With a shaky hand she reached for the glass. She would definitely need the alcohol – probably a lot more in the next few months.

"Deal."

Both drained their glasses in one gulp.

She was right. Disgusting nailed it pretty good.