Chapter 3
As Lily awoke to the sound of her alarm, she jumped out of bed and rushed to get ready. She now she had plenty of time before she actually had to show up, but she wanted to be early and make a good first impression. She took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, slapped on her uniform, then headed out the door. She stopped at the door before she ran off and looked at the table she put her parents "gifts" on. Although she didn't worry like they did, she decided to humor them and shoved the Taser in her pocket.
After a bit of walking, she had arrived at G.I.A.'s main station. She was fortunate enough to find an apartment that was only a few blocks away. Having to commute every day would have been a great hassle on her schedule and her wallet. She walked into the station and approached the front desk, where another human officer was sitting on his phone. After a few seconds, he noticed the new face staring at him and his face lit up at the meeting.
"Oh hello there! I haven't seen you around here before. You must be one of the new recruits aren't you?" he said in a high, slightly feminine voice. From that little bit of communication alone, she could tell that he was young, and also maybe played for the opposite team. However, she knew it would be wrong to throw out any labels or accusations. She had only just met him after all. She gave him a quick nod and a smile.
"That's right. Captain Lilian Kattswell, nice to meet you." She put her hand out and he shoot it instantly.
"Ooh, A fellow captain. Jonathan James, at your service, but everyone here just calls me JJ. And congratulations on the early promotion." He smiled brightly at her giving her a wink. He looked around briefly to confirm that no one was around. "I'm guessing you are here for the newcomers brief but….I think you came a bit early." He said with a chuckle.
She waved her hand at him and rolled her eyes. "I know, but it never hurts to be early."
JJ gave a nod in agreement. "oh I hear ya sister. I have to spend most of my day from beginning to end. The chief makes it a point to have someone at the desk at all times, so I'm 12 hours out of the day till I get relieved for night shift."
"Wow that must be pretty tough." Lily said with signs of sympathy.
"Oh it's not all that bad. Especially when I get to check out all the cute guys that walk in." JJ whispered that last part and gave her a sly wink.
'Labels confirmed.' Lily though to herself.
"well at least you are making the best of it and that's all that matters." They both smiled at each other and gave a small laugh. But at the corner of her eye, Lily say something. Someone to be more specific. It was a K-Lexian in civilian clothes walking down the hallway into a door that said G.I.A. PERSONNEL ONLY.
K-Lexian's were very well known among the galaxies, mainly for their shifty and sly personalities and behaviors. They very closely resembled humans, the only noticeable differences where they had animal like features such as ears, tails, claws, and eyes. It was a bit of a stereotype to assume that all K-Lexian's were trouble makers, but 9 times out of 10, they were. They were always caught on the wrong side of the law committing illegal acts, so it was hard not to stereotype. And Lily hadn't been any better.
She politely excused herself from JJ's desk as she went to follow the K-Lexian down the hall. She pushed her way through the doors to find herself in a long hallway with multiple doors on each side. She started walking down, peering into the windows of each one, when she finally noticed The K-Lexian sitting on the desk facing away from her with files in his hand. At closer inspection, she notice he had pitch black hair, tall pointy ears, and a long thin black tail that kind of resembled that of a cat. As she continued to watch, she noticed he took out his phone and snapped a quick pic of the open file in his has, which pushed the final straw for Lily. She pushed open the door and demanded in a confident strong voice. "What do you think you're doing in here?"
The K-Lexian turned his head quickly, surprised at the voice that came from behind him. While startled at first, he noticed who it was that had addressed him then relaxed and gave a sly grin. "Hoo, gave me a little scare there for a second." he chuckled. "Just taking some pictures of these files here." As he gestured to the files on the desk.
Lily looked at him with an annoyed smirk. "You realize it is illegal for civilians to take photos of classified information."
He kept the smile on his face. "Yes I am aware of this."
"Then I will have to ask you to delete those photos immediately."
"And if I refuse?"
Lily was starting to get irritated now. "Then I will have to place you under arrest." With that she started walking towards him with a serious look on her face. He gave a small chuckle and crossed his arms.
"You new lieutenants, always so eager to arrest someone." Lily got really angry with that.
"For your information, I'm a Captain. And what do you mean by that?" He looked at her keeping up his smirk.
"Oh, well my apologies Captain, what I mean is once you finally get here you want to be like all the hero's you read about when you were children. Running all over the galaxy, fighting bad guys with guns blazing, hoping to make the world a better place. Hate to burst your bubble, but you will be very disappointed with how things work here. So much so that I bet your emotions will get the better of you and you will end up quitting." Lily had started to become disgusted with what he was saying.
'How dare he talk that way to me' she thought. Pure anger was clearly visible in her face. "You don't know the first thing about me." She got right in his face and jammed her finger into his chest, trying to emphasize her point.
The K-Lexian put a hand on his chin to give the appearance of deep thought. "Hmmm. You grew up in the country, in a family of farmers, and your hero growing up was Nicholas Cain. You were always optimistic growing up and you were the pride and joy of the small hick town, being at the top of your class all your life. You are always happy but can be set off easily, letting your emotions get the better of you. You want so badly to make the world a better place, but deep down you know that you are just one person and you are not as resilient as your superiors…. Am I in the ballpark?"
Lily was frozen. She just stood there, eyes wide open, full of all kinds of emotions. Even though she hated it, she knew that he was right. Everything he had just said was 100% correct.
While she stood there paralyzed, the K-Lexian walked around the desk and sat in the chair, kicking his feet up onto the desk. "I'll take that as a yes."
Lily shook herself from her daze and wandered around the desk getting back in his face. "Well…Don't think I don't know your kind either. Always acting so sly and mysterious, living up to the stereotypes of your race and never even tried proving them wrong. You came to this planet and hustled your way through life to get what you want, not caring about the people hurt in the process. The worst part is you do all these things to get by in life but you never took the chance to improve yourself and make a difference in the world."
He just sat there, his face now in a frown. "Wow…..that was….actually pretty accurate."
And right at that moment, a major outside heard all the shouting coming from the room and decided to confront it.
"What's going on in here?!" His eyes went straight to Lily with a stern face. "You aren't supposed to be in here, this office belongs to-"
His eyes glanced over to the K-Lexian sitting in the chair, who now had a sly grin on his face again. "Hey Steven." He said while giving a small wave.
The major's eyes went wide and he straightened himself up. "Oh! C-Colonel Frost. I didn't know you had company at the moment. Please excuse my intrusion. I'll let you get back to your meeting." He said while exiting the room.
"No problem big guy, talk to you later." Frost said while he left the room.
Lily just stood there, mouth wide open, staring at the door. He then stood up and faced her keeping his smile. "The only thing you missed was after my shadowy past, I joined G.I.A. and I am now your superior officer."
Lily immediately put herself to attention, her face completely overcome with fear, and gave him a salute. "S-S-Sir I…I'm so sorry I…..I didn't know you….I didn't mean to-"
he put up his hand to silence her. "At ease captain. If I'm not mistaken, you have a newcomers brief to get to, correct?" she just stood there nodding her head rapidly. "Then I suggest you get going. The brief begins in 20 minutes and I don't think you want to miss it." Lily was so embarrassed that she didn't know what to say or do. She just turned around with her head down and walked out the door. She didn't look back at him but she knew that still had his smile on his face.
By the time she got to the briefing room she noticed a few new recruits were now there waiting for the brief. However, while before she was eager to meet them all and maybe see some of her old friends from the academy, now she didn't have the nerve to say a word to anybody. That whole experience had taken a lot out of here and she wasn't ready to try and make a fool out of herself again today. She just found a chair in the back and sat there in silence. The last thing she wanted to do was relive the humiliation that had happened just a few minutes ago. As time passed the room got fuller and fuller, till eventually the room was packed with new recruits. At that time, the Command Chief had walked in to give the briefing.
The Chief was a Vogorian, which closely resembled the earthling's depiction of a demon, having large horns, chiseled face, large teeth, and goat-like legs. To say the least he looked absolutely frightening. His booming voice didn't help as he spoke.
"Good evening recruits. Today marks your first day as a member of G.I.A.'s Earth Division. I am Chief Farren Banic, the Command Chief of this Division, which means whatever you do here, I will know about it." His words made everyone shiver in their seats. They didn't know how, but every word he said filled them all with fear.
All accept for Lily that is, who was still to upset with her recent encounter to feel anything but depressed. The briefing continued for about an hour with Chief Banic telling them his standards and expectation of each and every one of them. As the briefing started to come to a close, the chief could see that everyone was eager to start there day. "Now then. One of the procedures for newcomers is that we pair you with senior officers to act as your mentors. This is so they can show you the ropes and help you better understand how things work around here. This will last for 1 year, which afterwords your mentorship will end and you will be reassigned to new permanent partners. However, you may choose to keep your current partner if you so desire. Officers!" he shouted towards the door.
Several senior officers started entering forming several rows of them standing at parade rest. And Lily noticed the one person she didn't want to see standing right in front. When they had all entered, the chief again spoke. "when I call your names come forward and I will assign you to your mentoring officer." He them popped on his glasses and red the list.
"Captain Lilian Kattswell!" Lily then stood up and started walking up to the front, while also noticing Frost was chuckling as she walked up. Banic noticed this but said nothing and tried to maintain him professional look. Lily also ignored him and kept her eyes on the chief. When she finally got to the front, she stood there at parade rest awaiting instructions. "Seeing as you are the highest ranking recruit, it seems most appropriate to assign you with the highest ranking mentor….Colonel Michael Frost, front and center."
She couldn't believe what just happened. She just got partnered up with the last person she ever wanted to see again. "Frost, this is your new partner, Lilian Kattswell. Kattswell, this is your mentor, Michael Frost." Frost again chuckled and this time Banic addressed it.
"What seems to be so amusing Colonel." Frost had managed his chuckle, but was still smiling.
"Nothing sir. I just find it a funny coincidence that her name is Kattswell yet I'm the one with cat ears." This then made the rest of the senior officer's chuckle, till the Chief glared at them, to which they all stopped and looked straight. Banic looked back at the two.
"Enough of your jokes Frost. Take your new partner back to your office and get back to work. You're dismissed." They then both saluted him with a yes sir and headed out as he started calling off the rest of the names. They left the room and went down the hall back to the office they had both started in. once inside, Frost had turned to Lily and addressed her.
"Well, welcome to your new second home cause this is where you will be spending most of your time. I'm sure you can assume which desk is mine so you are free to the other one. Me casa es su casa." He said while heading for his desk. Lily just stood there at the entrance staring at the floor. He noticed she hadn't moved and spoke again.
"Hey, Kat. Chop chop. We got to get to work now." She didn't move an inch. As he looked at her, he stared to notice how depressed she really looked. As if she was about to be in tears. Now the smile on his face had disappeared and he started to worry.
He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Woah, hey there, what's wrong?" Lily took a deep breath then tried to speak.
"I want to apologize for how I acted earlier. It was unprofessional and very disrespectful." The realization then hit Frost.
"first off, I don't like this look of defeat on your face. It's very distracting and it makes me upset. Second there is no reason to apologize because you didn't know who I was and I already had forgiven you for it. And like I said earlier, you were very accurate in your reading. I had a pretty bad past before I joined G.I.A. and it's a part of my life I can never get rid of."
Lily looked up at his big smiling face and couldn't help but return a small smile. Frost then stood up straight.
"What say we start over." He then cleared his throat and put out his hand. "Colonel Michael Frost. You can call me Mike."
Lily was then able to pull herself together and put back on her confident smile. "Captain Lilian Kattswell. Call me Lily."
Now that they got their new start, Lily started to feel a bit better about her new partnership.
'Maybe this won't be that bad' she thought.
Well this was a long and irritating chapter. lol
it took me a while to get this chapter out do to work, also writing has been a little slow for the future chapters, but none the less chapters are still coming and the story will continue. Forgive me for taking so long and I hope you are enjoying the story so far.
thank you for reading!