After some time Beatrice recovered again with a sudden movement, jumped back and separated herself from Jack.
She pressed her palms together and smiled "Right" she said cheerfully.
"Look what I got."
An iron sphere began to gravitate around her, just above the union of her fingers.
"Is that one of those orb ornaments that are all the rage?"
"No" Beatrice shakes her head, then moves her hands away from each other, dropping her left hand and raising her right to shoulder high.
Then the orb moved until it was a few inches above her index finger.
Jack let out a chuckle and lifted his shoulders "Hell, I don't know... maybe it's a drone with a connection to your neural interface?".
Beatrice frowned "Could be.... You haven't touched the cores they've dropped?".
"Cores? The creatures' cores?"
Beatrice nodded.
Jack covered his mouth with his right hand, brought his focus to the hand in his mouth, began to whisper
"The truth is, I destroyed all the cores.... It should be like this...".
"... I think I touched one... It is possible. What makes you so interested in it, though?" He raised his gaze until he was looking directly into Beatrice's eyes.
Beatrice's lips twisted into a doubtful smile "Didn't you feel something when you touched it?".
Jack uncovered his mouth by moving his hand away, letting it fall and let out a chuckle.
"Not at all, I was asleep."
Beatrice frowned "What...?".
Jack raised her right hand to shoulder height and began to shake it back and forth "Don't ask."
"... Ahum..." she took the pauses simply trying to gesture some way to express her confusion, but failed so she just nodded erratically.
After a few seconds, once she recovered she sighed.
She turned around, and looked down at the table. She leaned her upper body until her outstretched arm reached a white bar, two pieces protruded from the side, forming an incomplete frame.
"...".
She stood up straight and slid her thumb over the middle of the bar.
A holographic screen emerged from the frame, and on it was a writing.
Again she turned to Jack and extended that hand to him.
Jack took the device from Beatrice's hand and scrutinised the writing inside the hologram.
"Hmmm" Jack's expression slowly turned to one of doubt, after finishing reading the hologram, he looked up at Beatrice "Wouldn't it have been quicker to tell me?".
"It would have" Beatrice crossed her arms under her chest "You would have had to read it anyway.... Besides I never expected to need to explain it to you."
Jack flashed a small smile "Are you afraid to improvise?"
Beatrice replied with her serious face and emotionless voice "Not at all".
Jack sighed "So you're guessing I absorbed the core? That would fit one thing that bothered me quite a bit."
Beatrice moved her face closer towards Jack "Well? Will you show me?".
"..." Jack reached out his left hand, closed his eyes and focused his mind on extending outside of himself.
And so a dark aura spread from his arm. He opened his eyes with little interest in seeing the result.
That intention changed as he observed the manifestation ｢Of course.... A raven-like shadowy agent? Hmmh?｣.
The darkness appeared to be solid, however, upon contact with the ground it formed a shadow with no apparent origin.
Jack's face was filled with bewilderment.
Beatrice looked curiously at the shadow and asked "How exactly did you know what it was?".
"At no time did I know. I only inferred that the reason behind the rapid manifestation of your ability was due to its nature. With a single thought you would be able to move metal, yet the core I absorbed was.... It possessed no such qualities, it clearly related to the creature."
Beatrice inclined her head "In other words?" .
Jack shook his hand, disintegrating the darkness "The creature manifested its body from the core, it didn't assemble it. So it was fundamentally different."
He sighed, his gaze focused on Beatrice and took a step towards her " Leaving that aside...." .
✠ - ✠
"Certainly. We thought we'd stick by Jack's side. However What happened to the rest of his crew? Why are we the only ones who will go with him?" Zeke showed real interest in his countenance after planting these questions before Otis.
"..." Otis was silent for a few seconds.
He sighed before answering "Kram took power in an unstable time and that instability has not stopped, in fact it has swallowed much of the confidence in the military body. We have been dealing with a shortage of volunteers for some time now...".
"Hahaha" Zeke manifested a condescending laugh "Turns out he hasn't accomplished anything despite his supposed iron fist. You lukewarm rotter."
"..." Otis shook his head in refusal at the tirade "Lukewarm wouldn't be an accurate description, he attacks the symptom rather than the disease."
Kelly frowned ｢The situation is completely different from what they were saying...｣. "They were reassigned?"
Otis took his gaze away, chagrined at what he would say "He was barely reported missing."
"What a mess" Brendan reached out right arm until he touched the bottle of champagne at the centre of the table, then grabbed it. His left hand was not still, his fingers tangled in a glass goblet, gripping the glass up to the level of his abdomen.
"And to think..." He carried the bottle slightly above the glass and slowly poured the wine into the glass. He stopped half an inch from filling and simply returned the bottle to its original position.
He raised the glass above his head, pointing to the rest of the group around the table.
"In this way he presented his defence plan. Giving a toast to our military might..." After saying that, Brendan gulped down the champagne glass.
Ledia gasped, a glass of red wine slipped from her red lips "Really pathetic."
✠ - ✠
Jack and Beatrice stood in front of the ship, the door opened automatically.
Jack led the way to the children's room "Them", next he stepped to the side of the door for Beatrice to gain access.
Beatrice sighed before peering through the glass.
Seeing the children she whispered "You said they were younger than the recruitment was agreeing to but this....".
"You don't think it's possible?"
Beatrice tore her gaze away from the crystal "It's not impossible.... About what you told me, as they have no parents their custody passes to the state.... However, I don't know if they would approve, the facility lacks what is needed to train children and is far beyond the age of liquidity."
"..." Jack pondered his possibilities in silence.
Beatrice placed her right hand on her hips "I understand your fears about the children but, this was very impulsive" She slowly jerked her head in disapproval.
"I know" Jack raised his hand to shoulder height and shook it "The determination in your eyes touched me, that's why I did it".
"Unbelievable... Just unbelievable, I've never seen you touched."
Jack sighed as he averted his gaze.
"Are you going to act like it's not true?" Beatrice released her grip on her hips and stepped forward "Since I met you I never did succeed. You never tried on your own to stop being a tool."
Jack's eyelids opened wide, he turned his gaze to Beatrice, placed his hands on Beatrice's shoulders.
"I am not a tool. I never was" His eyes didn't take his direction away from Beatrice's face.
Beatrice took another step forward, standing a few inches from Jack's face.
A small separation, but enough to observe his expressionless face.
Even her voice was calm considering the tone in which that sentence should have been spoken.
Beatrice's lips trembled softly, it was spoken at a low volume, so that only Jack could hear, "So why didn't you leave the army as soon as you could?
Jack brought his lips to Beatrice's right ear, whispered "Revenge" Slowly he withdrew his face back to its former position "I want to kill Kran. Brute power is no good, at least not if it is insufficient to break through the palace of the capital...".
Beatrice stepped back "Wow.... Right this instant I could press a button and send you to prison."
"Would you?" Jack grimaced scornfully "Maybe it would be a favour, you know I won't stop until I see him dead."
"..." Beatrice sighed, after which she shook her head slowly. Finally she looked at the door "I'll do whatever I can for the children."
Jack exhaled dubiously at the predictable change "But?"
"If the superiors won't accept them? We'll send them back to Mars."
Jack's eyelids closed "If that's the way it should be...".
"Mhm?" An alarm sounded inside his mind, he opened his eyes and after a few seconds said "Otis is calling me.... We may not be able to say goodbye later so...".
Beatrice smiled slightly, tilted her head to one side and raised her arms to shoulder height.
✠ - ✠
Jack adjusted his tattered shirt before taking the next step, the door opened and he immediately stepped into the detection field.
No sooner had he stepped inside than he received the stares of those inside.
"Now that I get a good look at you. Your outfit is the worst preserved of the bunch..." Otis said with a vague smile.
Jack let out a wry laugh "I'll be able to change my outfit when I get a new ship."
Otis raised an eyebrow "Don't you wish you had New Dawn back?".
Jack walked over to the table and took the chair opposite Otis "As much as I wish I had my crew back" He said as he took a seat.
Otis let out a chuckle as he clasped his hands together "Sharp as ever."
"I'm sure you'll take the second point into consideration by now."
"Sure" Otis nodded slowly "I'll see to returning the ship soon. The new one is parked at forty-nine."
"Good" "What's the objective?"
"I had already discussed it with your group. They are few so we can't just trust them with the planet."
"Eden seven. Their mission is to act as a satellite, if the horde crosses the barrier notify base."
Jack raised an eyebrow, "Why?"
Otis straightened his back "The planet's government refuses to cooperate? We can't just park an armada off a planet when we need them elsewhere."
Zeke yawned in a tone of disappointment "Then we don't need to fight."
Otis shook his head slightly "No need. Although it would help if you could convince the local government."
Kelly gently stroked his chin as he frowned "I doubt we can do more than the diplomats."
Otis let out a chuckle and clapped his hands together twice "Any help is welcome."
Zeke snorted in disappointment as he rolled his eyes "That phrase is one of the most generic in the ogch."
"The truth is often simple and generic".
"True" Jack interjected sliding his hand across the edge of the table "Still, I was hoping for something more elaborate."
Ledia frowned "How much more elaborate could you elaborate on something so simple?"
Jack raised his right hand to chest height, spread his fingers and smiled slightly "Enough to write a book."
Otis let out a laugh "You think so?".
Jack flashed a goofy grin "I never said how long it would be."
"Certainly. In any case, if you want it so badly, I'll write a book.... Once we get out of this mess."
Jack dropped his hands before raising his right hand again.
He extended it to the centre of the table, his fingers slightly separated from his palm, "You better not run away.
Otis smiled as he repeated Jack's actions "My administration's favourite phrase is said and done" he said before shaking Jack's hand.