It wasn't what they represented, the authority they commanded or even how long she had owned them.
There was a small worn patch on the right knee.
"I don't think I can reach it." Caleb appeared form underneath the console in front of her.
Paige shrugged, "Just get a service unit it here, they have those little extendible arm thingys." She held out her arm and wiggled her fingers in imitation.
"I'd rather not have one of those things on working on my console." He tucked his hair behind his ear and looked around the room for another tool.
"Why not?" Paige eyed him suspiciously.
"I just don't like them." He answered rummaging around in a draw without looking at her.
The Captain leant on the console and began to slowly enter commands, she wasn't as knowledgeable as the Tech Officer but he had called her in to help and she was doing the best she could.
"What are you doing?" He was suddenly beside her.
She stopped typing "I was just having a look at the log, to see if any problems had been reported."
Caleb swiped his hand across the hovering keyboard and it disappeared back into the table.
"When was the last time you used a manual keyboard? Those commands are years old!"
Paige leaned against the wall and folded her arms "And that's why you don't want me checking out the most recent logs?"
"Yes?" He tried to lie to her.
"Caleb did you get me in here to help you fix your console because you can't reach the manual service hatch underneath," He began to answer her but she held up her hand "Or is it because if a Corps service unit linked itself to your console you'd be reported for whatever it is your hiding in there?"
He looked sheepish as he tried to figure out how angry she was.
"To be fair they are both true, I mean you're taller than me and could easily reach the hatch under there." He motioned under the console.
She narrowed her eyes at him.
"It's just a bunch of codes I've got saved for a bad day, they just aren't fully sanctioned yet."
Paige didn't say anything as she knelt and looked under the console, she could see the small hatch was located on the underside of the console and almost out of her reach.
She looked up at the Tech.
"I can reach it."
Caleb smiled "I knew you'd be able to, thanks!" He handed her the tool to open the hatch.
Before ducking back under she added, "But you're going to owe me a new pair of pants, I'm going to be kneeling here all day, these wires are a mess!"
There was a small thread coming loose on the collar.
Paige ignored the ache in her back as she stood in front of the committee of Shibion Elders. It was supposed to have been an hour long meeting but as she glanced out the window the second sun was making an appearance, confirming she had been standing there for almost 3 hours.
The Shibions were well known for their love of conversation and long winded discussions and apparently the Elders were no exception.
Although they had been stand offish at first, dealings with the Shibions had been going smoothly, to the point where they had agreed to let a Corps ship patrol in areas close to their home planet. An area that had been off limits to most for almost a century.
When the meeting had been set up Paige found herself feeling nervous, it was her first official outing as Captain. Now she was here, all she felt was boredom.
The Elders were twelve Shibions who had been elected to represent their race based on their age and wisdom.
Paige had been taken back when she first entered the room. The Shibions she had known before had a striking physical appearance. Their hair and skin was so white it almost seemed to glow and their blue eyes actually did. The Elders in front of her now were quite different, they were all sitting down on large cushions on the floor. Their shoulders curved in and hunched over making their now silver grey hair fall over their faces. The once pure white skin was now almost transparent and their eyes were grey.
One of the female Elders seen the surprise on her face and pointed in Paige's direction.
"Beauty and knowledge are two sides of a coin, young woman."
Paige stammered as she tried to respond.
Luckily for her a group of the Elders daughters burst through the doorway, talking loudly and oblivious to what they had interrupted.
A male Elder with a sagging wrinkled face spoke.
"Samara, Narea, my daughters." His voice had been no louder than when he was speaking normally but the girls immediately stopped.
"Daughters, you are welcome to join our meeting with the representatives of the Corps, if you feel your voice will be of value". He waved his hand over a few of the empty cushions.
The girls looked around realising they may have just disrupted a very important meeting.
Three of the girls, who seemed to be the eldest of the group apologised and quickly left the room.
However, the remaining two had a different response. One of them flopped down on a cushion grinning at Lt. General McCullers who was sitting opposite and the other approached Captain McCullers.
Paige was still mid stutter as she watched the girl come to stand in front of her. The blonde girl tilted her head to the side as she studied the Captain.
"They send representatives this young?" She didn't give anyone a chance to answer before speaking again.
"What is your name?" She stared at Paige without blinking.
"Paige, Captain Paige McCullers". Paige finally found her voice and tightened her posture. She glanced at the girl then looked straight forward. She wondered if being an Elder's daughter was of importance and after a few seconds added "Ma'am" at the end.
The girl barely showed any emotion on her face but seemed to be amused by this, she turned to her Father.
"Let's keep her here, yes?"
The other sister also began to study Paige with an almost human like curiosity and it was then the Captain realised who they were. The Elder, their Father, was Unabe the first and only Shibion to have taken a human as a partner. It was forbidden at the time but by their first child things had changed in their favour and had started the alliance between the two races. The last two of their daughters, the ones in the room now, were quite well known for being the only half Shibion, half humans living. The other children had all been normal Shibions but these two were different. While their skin was white like a Shibion, their hair was blonde and the eyes were bright blue but did not glow like the others.
Paige tried not to stare as she looked at the girls properly for the first time, she was finding it hard to look away, they were stunning.
"Captain McCullers will proceed over the protection of our planet." Unabe replied.
Narea turned back to Paige, her head tilting to the side again.
"You have passed many tests but perhaps the most important still remains". The blonde reached into the small bag that hung over her shoulder.
A bundle of brown fur was produced and sat balancing on the girls outstretched hand.
Paige's face was filled with confusion as she tried to figure out what she was looking at.
The blonde girl stepped closer "This is Sippy, he is our decision maker and holds much power."
At the word Sippy the small animal unfurled and caught Paige in a black eyed gaze. He was small like a hamster but had the body of a cat. His head was ball shaped with round black eyes and long pointy ears that were filled with fluffy fur.
Paige's cloud of confusion still stormed on as the other girl spoke.
"Sippy is she worthy?" With that the small animal pounced onto the Captain's shoulder and began chewing on her collar.
The other sister was now standing a few feet away and made a noise that was close to laughter, it was short and easily missed.
"Do not antagonise the one responsible for our well being" She chastised.
The girl petted Sippy as he chewed away happily "I do not take his opinion lightly Samara but it does seem he likes her uniform as much as I do."
The sisters shared a very human like look before being ushered out of the room by their Fathers request. Sippy had been removed from the Captains shoulder but the wet patch and loose thread remained.
Paige sighed as she folded the last of her uniforms and placed them in a bag, along with her Captain's communicator and pass key wrist band.
In this motion Paige felt a switch flip inside her, allowing a thick fog of numbness and blissful ignorance take her over. She was on auto pilot until further notice, it wasn't a concious decision but she had done nothing to stop it from happening.
She did not stop to check her appearance before leaving the room and did not respond to the bright greeting Xane had given her in the hall.
The Corps building was a large spectacle of countless floors and flapping flag poles. It was a grey almost tower like structure with windows covering every surface going so high it was difficult to see the top clearly. A place that once held such wonder and excitement for Paige now lay dormant and cold.
A small beep sounded as she walked through the foyer doors and a Secbot floated over to her.
It's small square body bobbed up and down as a screen flashed to life in it's middle.
"Welcome to the Corps Central Building, please state your name." It's high pitched voice did nothing for Paige's patience.
"Paige McCuller's." She replied as a scan beam ran over her face.
The bot let out a troubling whirring noise as three large words appeared on the screen.
'CITIZEN NOT FOUND'
Then a second later Paige's photo and date appeared on screen.
"Miss McCullers please advance to platform five." The bot hovered back to it's spot and powered down.
Figuring it to be a faulty bot Paige made her way to the platform where a few other people also stood and in a few moments it was lifting them to their designated floors.
The Reassignment Floor wasn't that familiar to Paige, she had been in this building numerous times but had never had need to stop on this particular floor.
It was filled with a maze of steel square cubicles, each one filled with a clerk staring perpetually at a holoscreen in front of them. There were Corps officers dotted around the place, sitting opposite a glazed eyed clerk, most likely fighting to keep their station.
Paige gripped at the bag strap on her shoulder as she felt her anxiety begin to rise. This was it, there was no turning back, she had made her decision and was about to loose everything she had ever worked for. The reason for this was not lost on her as an image of a certain dark haired girl flashed into her mind. She pushed away the second thoughts and emotions that stormed beneath her skin and rubbed the back of her neck as the temperature in the room seemed to rise.
"Paige McCuller's please proceed to desk 26." The message blasted throughout the floor as a small blue light began flashing within the labyrinth of desks.
Paige made her way towards it and sat across from a clerk with a colourless face.
"Identification." She barked without looking away from the screen.
Paige placed her hand on the scan pad in front of her, it would determine who she was via her finger prints and the DNA from her skin.
The clerk, who's name plate read Timi swiped at the screen quickly.
"Corps property to be handed over, three sets of on ship standard issue uniforms with...Captain's colours." This got Timi's attention and she gave Paige a side way once over.
Paige ignored it as she piled the items up on the desk.
"Two sets of ship Captain uniforms, one Captain's communicator and one pass key."
The clerk tapped a few more times at the screen and a bot came hovering over, collected the items and left.
Paige tried not to watch it as in moved over the heads of everyone, carrying the clothes she had been wearing for her entire adult life away.
A sick feeling rose from her stomach, pressing across her chest and burning into her throat. Paige crossed her arms and focused on a spot on the desk in front of her. She wouldn't cry, especially not here.
Within a few minutes the bot returned and placed a new stack of items on the desk.
Without looking away from her screen Timi pushed the items across to Paige.
"Three Officer uniforms, one general pass key and one general communicator. You are required to use your current boots and pistol."
Paige pushed the clothes into her bag with little care.
"Your job assignment will be sent to you shortly, you're room 56 in recruit dormitory B, correct?"
"Yes." Paige answered solemnly.
The clerk continued tapping away as the light above her booth lit up and the next person was called.
She turned and blinked in surprise to see Paige still sitting there.
"You can go." She dismissed her with a frown.
Paige stood and clutched the strap of her bag in anger. She took a deep breath and fought the urge to let loose on the clueless woman in front of her.
With a deep breath and every ounce of her control she turned and left.
After leaving the building Paige headed quickly towards the public gym. She didn't care if there were job assignments waiting for her, she just really wanted to punch something.
"This is cute!" Hanna called over her shoulder and held up a top covered in a pink flower design.
Emily let out a displeased grunt behind her and Hannah turned around with a sigh.
"You know you can't live in black shirts and jeans for the rest of your life!"
"Why not"? Emily shrugged.
Hannah moved to stand in front of the dark haired girl. "Look, I'm not going to pretend like we're best friends already, I know there's a lot of stuff we don't know about you but I still know when you're upset about something."
Emily shook her head and looked across the isles of clothing. "I'm fine Hannah."
"Ok, well I'm here if you want to talk about it." She gave a small smile and moved back to the clothes.
Emily watched as the other girl flicked through the racks. Hannah and Aria had arrived at her parents house this morning with the plan of shopping and lunch. She had every intention on saying no until she saw the look on her Mother's face. Pam was constantly worrying over her and Emily thought this might ease her mind a little. Going out with friends is what people do right? What happy people do. She could fake it for a few hours.
Aria stepped into the isle they were in with her hands on her hips.
"Hannah! I've been calling out to you for 10 minutes!"
"Oh sorry, I probably couldn't hear you because you're so short."
Both brunettes gave her a confused look.
She shrugged "What?"
Aria huffed. "Can we please leave now? This store has a weird smell."
Emily nodded in agreement.
Hannah rolled her eyes, "It's supposed to, this is what clothes shops use to be like, they weren't always delivered by a catalogue you know."
"I can understand why we changed it, if this is what everyone's clothes smelt like." Aria said while eyeing the clothes near her.
Hannah put her hands up in defeat. "Fine, I just thought it would be fun, there aren't many of these little retro stores around anymore but okay, let's go."
A clerkbot waved them out spurting out an advertisement for an upcoming sale.
"Urgh, it's so ironic that a 'retro' store has an electric clerk." Hannah rolled her eyes. "Like they don't think anyone will notice? So pretentious."
The brunettes once again gave her a confused look.
"What?"
Paige walked down the shiny bright corridor of the gym until she found an empty room.
A small panel in the wall slid out offering a place for her belongings which she dumped her bag into before it shut again.
A larger panel on the floor lit up, ushering her to stand on it and a voice activated as she stood in place.
"Please choose room settings."
"Boxing bag, high resistance." Paige replied as she stretched her arms out.
Another panel in the ceiling opened up and a boxing bag was lowered down to her height.
It had barely stopped swinging as Paige let loose with a fast bunch of jabs. She immediately felt the hardness of the bag as the punches jolted back through her body and she reacted by tightening her stance, as if facing off a bigger opponent.
Usually she would use work out time to rid her mind of whatever was bothering her but today was different.
Each blow had a face, each hit had a reason.
Daniel Jones and all the crew members of his ship. The men who had lied to her and forced her to be violent, the people who attacked them on Lutis, Timi, Major Connelly, her Father, Emily.
That last face caused her to pause and she stared at the boxing bag, as if the other girl was in it's place.
"It's done now, it's over." She pushed the bag. "You can leave."
Dark eyes started back at her.
"Leave me alone!" She pushed the bag again and stepped around to the other side. The Corps board and it's leading officers were on the receiving end this time. Her punches were hard and fast with no uniform to them at all.
Paige ignored the pain in her arms as the sound of her anger filled the room.
Just do what they want. Tell them what they want to hear.
Her own voice reasoned inside her head. What's left to fight for? They've taken everything away.
"Shutup!." Paige swung one more punch before grabbing onto the bag and leaning her weight on it. Sweat dripped down her neck as she tried to catch her breath.
You're a coward.
"No I'm not." She answered to herself.
A buzzing sounded from the panel in the wall and she took out her personal communicator. As if it had been listening in on her internal conversation a message flashed on it's screen.
'Attendance required at General Connelly's office ASAP'
"And I'm going to prove it." She pulled out her belongings and left the room.
"What about this place?" Hannah motioned to a small cafe as they walked past. "It looks popular."
It was filled almost to capacity with people eating lunch and Emily screwed up her face and shook her head.
Hannah sighed. "Were you this difficult before?".
Emily's personal communicator buzzed and she looked down to a message from The Corps, requesting her to meet with the board in an hour.
"Honestly Emily, what's going to make you happy today?"
"Paige?"
The other two girls turned as Aria spotted Paige coming towards them.
The surprise was clear on her face for a second before it disappeared behind a frown.
"Captain, hey, haven't seen you for a few days". Aria smiled as she approached them.
Paige was looking anywhere but Emily.
"Yeah, I've been busy, like I am right now." She continued passed them.
"Woah hold up, you haven't got a second to say hello?" Hannah jogged a few steps to catch up to her.
"Caleb's been trying to contact you since we docked." She looked at the taller girl waiting for an answer.
Paige turned to the blonde, "I'm sorry Hannah, I forgot to to stop all the shit going on in my life right now to join you while you, what are you doing right now?" She looked at the other girls. "Go shopping?"
Hannah gaped a little at Paige's mocking tone.
"You'll have to excuse me from today's sales as I'm going to sit in front of The Board while they hand my ass to me."
She walked away leaving the three girls giving each other dumbfounded looks.
"Paige wait." Emily remembered the message she had just received. She turned to the other girls, "I'll call you guys later, thanks for today." And chased after Paige.
Paige heard Emily call out to her but continued walking, pulling her bag closer to herself and picking up the pace.
"Hey Paige wait." Emily fell into step beside her.
"What do you want Emily?"
Emily ignored the icy tone. "You said you were going to The Board offices right?"
Paige nodded, still looking ahead.
"I don't really remember where The Board offices are...so I thought I'd walk with you."
"You could use the map in your communicator."
"Right, well I kinda forgot about that. I'm still getting use to having one again. It's weird, I got my first message from The Corps today."
This caused Paige to falter a little.
"What did they want?"
"A meeting, it didn't say what for though." She shrugged.
"When is it?"
"Today, in an hour actually." Emily looked at Paige, trying to figure out where this new interest in her was coming from. A minute ago Paige couldn't get far enough away form her.
The continued on for the next few minutes in silence until coming up to the building Paige had spent most of her morning in. It's greyness bore down on her like a bully but she didn't let it get to her this time.
Standing up straight she turned to Emily.
"Whatever they say to you, whatever they ask, just tell the truth okay?"
Emily looked at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"Look Em, I don't know what they called you here for today but just promise me you'll tell the truth, no matter what they tell you. No matter what they say about me."
The darker haired girl started to worry.
"Paige what's going on? What are they going to ask me?"
Before she could answer a Secbot hovered out of the building towards the pair.
"Paige McCullers you are requested by General Connelly, please deter from any socialising."
"Promise me." Paige pleaded.
"Follow me please." The Secbot ushered.
Emily was still confused but it was becoming apparent there had been a lot going on in Paige's life she didn't know about. Things that could explain her absence and cold demeanour, things that could cause the current look of fear and worry on her face right now.
"I promise, Paige."
The other girl looked relived and smiled before being swallowed up by the giant grey doors.
The room was big and empty, besides a long table and a single chair in front of it. Members of The Board all sat on the other side of the table and Paige looked each one of them in the eye as she passed.
"Paige McCullers, previous Captain Paige McCuller's of the Mako, correct?"
Paige rolled her eyes at the obvious attempt to demoralise her.
"Yes, that's me, I was going to make a name badge but it didn't fit." She sat on the chair in front of the table. Her father sat with the others, his face unreadable as usual.
She leaned back in the chair and waited, she wasn't going to play nice little mouse anymore.
General Connelly cleared his throat. "Paige, have you come here today to tell us something?"
She looked around as if trying to remember something and then shrugged.
"I'd like to let you know this is your last chance to admit anything to The Board, your last chance to clear your name." He looked her directly in the eye. "Your last chance to have any sort of military career."
There were two other people at the table and by the looks on their faces they knew exactly what was going on.
Paige smiled bitterly. "A career built on a lie?".
The General shook his head.
"Paige, I wish you would look past the small things and see the big picture here. This is a lot bigger than you and your friends."
"Why can't you just leave her out of it? I'll take the blame for it all. Tell them I'm incompetent, tell them I was drunk for fuck sake, I don't care anymore."
"Paige, the Shibion Elders have met you, known you as Captain for years, there is no way they would ever believe that. It would be much easier for us to link Emily with Daniel Jones, portray her as a spy of sorts. An imposter and a reason the ships got so close."
"I won't do it," Paige shook her head. "I won't lie and make Emily a traitor."
"She is already a traitor for living with Daniel Jones these past years."
Paige stood up and leaned on the table in front of the General.
"She's the reason I was able to take down those enemy ships, she knew about the weapons, if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be having this conversation."
Lt. General McCuller's put his hand on her arm, "Paige please sit down."
She shook him off.
"No, listen to me. You asked me to lie about what happened so the Shibions continue with the weapons deal. I've agreed to it all, I've lost my ship and everything I've ever worked for. Do whatever you want with me but I'm telling you now, leave Emily out of it. She's been through hell and the least you can do is let me save her from more pain."
The table was silent for a moment before the General spoke.
"Paige McCuller's have you come here today to tell us something?"
A screen flashed on in front of her, signalling she was being recorded.
Paige stood up and squared her shoulders.
"I Paige McCuller's, previous Captain of The Mako admit to all responsibility for the destruction of two Shiboin ships in my sector. I had full knowledge of Shibion life on board and gave the orders to fire without consulting The Board or any superior officer."
Paige stared at General Connelly as he rose and spoke to the screen.
"This admission is approved and will be handed over to the Elders for further action. It is now an official case and will be handled as such. Paige McCuller's will remain on ground until proceedings have ended."
He turned to the table to finish the meeting but was interrupted by Paige's father.
"I Lt. General McCuller's would like to state that I will stand by my daughter throughout the proceedings."
After a few seconds of shock the General signalled for the recording to stop and the others left the room.
"Nick, are you sure this is the best thing." The General asked before leaving himself.
Nick stood beside his daughter and nodded. "This is the right thing, something we need a lot more of around here."
The General left shaking his head.
Nick turned to Paige and smiled "I'm proud of you Paige, for standing up to them even though it's cost you everything."
Paige didn't have a response, she was too busy trying to figure out who the man in front of her was.
"I know I haven't been very supportive over the years but this is not right, they've made you a scape goat for their messy affairs." He rubbed the back of his neck in part frustration and part awkwardness. Paige recognised the movement as something she often did herself.
"Please let me take you home and we'll start sorting this out, I won't let them do this to you okay?"
He picked up her bagged and walked to the door with Paige behind him.
"Thanks...Dad."
Emily changed her sitting position for the hundredth time. Showing up almost an hour early to a meeting was not a good idea but she had done it to walk with Paige. She had hoped to clear the air between them but the conversation had ended up making the air like a storm cloud. A thick confusing storm cloud.
A Secbot entered the waiting room and made a beeline towards her.
"Emily Fields" It stated as a red beam scanned over her face.
"Emily Fields" It declared once more and Emily realized it was waiting for her.
"Oh, uh yes, yes that's me."
"You are no longer required to attend a meeting with The Board today. Please leave and have a nice day."
It hovered away and Emily sighed in relief. After what Paige had said to her she had spent the last half an hour worrying about the meeting.
She walked out and sent a message to Paige asking where she was.
'I'm with my Dad, go be with your friends Emily'
This time she sighed in frustration in other girls constant changes towards her. She needed answers.
She tapped into her communicator once more but it was Caleb who replied.
'Yeah, I'll meet you in 20'.