Using a hand-drawn map from Curie—that was far too detailed, did she stay up all night making it?—and some advice from a helpful Diamond City guard, Renee managed to find her way to the Castle. "Zhe headquarters of zhe Minutemen," Curie'd said. The letter to Nate was tucked safely in her bag and she felt pretty good about the whole thing. Nothing had gone wrong so far, anyway.
"Stop right there!" A soldier in power armor aimed a laser musket at her as she approached the front gate.
Renee did so, throwing her hands up.
"State your name and business." The other guard shifted, eyeing her.
"Renee Jones. I'm delivering a report from Dr. Collins in Diamond City to Nate—General Howard." She swallowed hard.
The guard with the musket turned to the other. "Didn't the General say something about Dr. Collins having a new assistant?"
He nodded. "Fine. You're clear to enter."
Renee walked between them through the open gate. Her eyes widened as she beheld the courtyard. A large radio tower took up the center of the yard, and around it sprawled a shooting range, a training yard for hand-to-hand combat, and yet another enclosure for power armor training. Minutemen patrolled the walls and the steady hum of turrets filled the air. At each corner of the Castle were cannons; real, actual cannons.
The next moment, she felt someone tackle her to the ground just as she heard the loud bzang! of a musket. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Someone shouted, right in her ear.
Renee shoved her assailant off and got to her knees. She opened her mouth to answer when the woman grabbed the lapels of her jacket and practically lifted her off the ground. "Do you realize you could've been killed? You don't just walk through the firing range! God damn it, pay attention!"
"I was just—"
"Do you want to get killed because you were being stupid? I don't want to have to shovel your ashes into a box to send back to your family!" The woman shook her roughly and dropped her.
Renee stumbled but remained standing. She straightened her jacket. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't keep you alive!" The woman blinked, backing down. "Wait… You're not one of my recruits."
"No, I'm not." Renee crossed her arms. "I'm here to make a delivery. And it's not a new attitude to replace your bitchy one."
The woman sighed, adjusting her glasses. "I apologize. But you really shouldn't walk through the middle of the firing range. You could've been seriously hurt."
"Wouldn't have been the first time I got shot by a laser." Renee waved her hand.
"Anita Mayweather, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Commonwealth Minutemen." She held out her hand.
Renee glanced at it but only turned her back. "Renee Jones." She felt something tug at her rifle next. "Hey!"
Anita unclipped the strap and held the rifle up to her eye. "Nice scope. Chevron sight, even." She cocked the gun and ejected a bullet. "Snappy release." Then, she turned and aimed at one of the targets, hitting it in the center. "And not a lot of recoil."
Renee grabbed her weapon back and clipped the strap back on. "What is wrong with you?!"
Anita chuckled. "Sorry, I get excited around sniper rifles." She turned to the group of recruits watching the interaction. "Did I say you could stop?"
"No ma'am!" One saluted her and the rest got back in line to continue their training.
"Listen, I really am sorry about that." Anita put a hand at Renee's back to steer her out of danger. "What brings you to the Castle? Delivery, right?"
Renee huffed, stepping away from her. "Yes. To Nate. General Howard. Whatever." She dug the report out of her bag and held it up. "I work for Dr. Collins, in Diamond City. And she wants me to give this to him." She jerked the report just out of reach as Anita reached for it. "Personally."
"All right then." Anita ordered the recruits to keep practicing. "Follow me."
It was hard for Renee to match Anita's long stride but she managed well enough. Anita was saluted by a few passing Minutemen and she was quick to nod to them in return. Renee arched an eyebrow. "You must be important."
"I'm the Lieutenant-Colonel." Anita smiled down at her.
"Bold of you to assume I know what any of that means." Renee reached to tuck a lock of auburn hair behind her ear.
Anita laughed, grinning wider. "It means I'm a high-ranking officer."
"Lucky me."
Anita led her to a large room. "Here's his office." She gestured for Renee to enter, following after her.
Renee recognized Nate seated behind a large desk, his expression serious. A man in a duster and a pinned hat stood next to him. Both of them were engrossed in conversation with a third young man, this one clearly just a scout.
"Did you ask them why they were there?" Nate asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Yes sir. They said they were recruiting." The scout nodded. "They refused to cooperate with any further questioning."
The man beside Nate snorted. "I thought the Brotherhood didn't recruit wastelanders."
"Me neither. They must be preparing for something if they're trying to recruit new members. Or something has happened to cull their numbers." Nate's shoulders rose and fell with a breath. "Damn it, Maxson. I told him Minutemen settlements were strictly off-limits to all Brotherhood activity."
The scout stood at attention with a salute. "I have nothing further to report, sir."
"Dismissed. Get some rest."
Renee stood aside for the man to exit. Anita knocked on the door and stepped forward. "General, I picked someone up in the yard. She's looking for you." She crossed her arms and glanced down at the redhead.
Recognition flashed across Nate's face and he sat back. "It's you. Curie's new assistant." He stood, walking around the desk. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember your name."
"It's Renee." She held out the report. "Curie wanted me to deliver this to you. She's had a small breakthrough in her experiments."
Nate took it and ripped open the folder. He placed it on the desk behind him and scanned the paper, his expression softening. "Excellent work, Curie," he murmured. To Renee, he nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate this."
"The good doctor ready to come join us again?" The man in the hat smiled.
Nate shook his head. "No, Preston, she's not. But she's getting closer to giving us an edge."
Preston shrugged. "I'll take that too."
Anita tilted her head, eyebrows furrowed. "An edge, sir?"
"I've been meaning to talk to you about that, Mayweather. There's been a development." Nate placed the report on his desk and went to dig around in one of the drawers. He scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it off to Renee. "Here. Use this to stock up on any supplies you need in the armory. Curie specifically requested that you take as many Stimpaks as you think you'll need."
Renee felt her cheeks turn pink in embarrassment. "She didn't need to say that…"
"I'm sure she's just concerned about your safety. Cures is like that." Preston chuckled, lifting his hat to run his hand over his dark hair. "She tends to care about everyone but herself."
Anita snorted, rolling her eyes. "You can say that again."
Nate cleared his throat. "If you'll excuse us, I need to have a meeting with my officers. Renee, you're dismissed. Go back to Diamond City and let Curie know I've received the report and I'm pleased she's making progress. Be careful on the way."
As soon as Renee was outside the doors, they slammed shut at her back. She looked down at the paper in her hand to find it simply stated that the General authorized her to take whatever she needed from the armory, free of charge. It was useless to her, she decided; she made it to the Castle just fine and she could get back to Diamond City the same way.
She slipped the voucher in her bag and went back out into the courtyard. It made sense now. All the recruits and the security. There was clearly something going on between the Minutemen and the "Brotherhood". She scowled. She hoped to god it wasn't the damn Brotherhood of Steel, but she had a vague feeling it was. They got in her way more often than she'd like back in the Capital Wasteland and she wasn't keen on tangling with them again.
Renee looked up at the sky. Mid-afternoon, still plenty of time for travel. She stretched her neck and grabbed her rifle, eager to get back to Curie.