Chapter 24

[Reality Check - Saturday Feb 13 2010, 1035 hours, Pilot changing room] 

Thallin looked at Kay in an attempt to gather his thoughts, then at the bag, then back at Kay - having taken, in the meanwhile, her less-than-optimum state of health. <I hope I'm not responsible for all those bandages,> he thought. 

Kay, still smiling, nodded her head slightly. "Looks like you owe me some answers, Lieutenant." 

Letting out a heavy sigh, Thallin rested his head against the cool metal of the lockers for a fraction of a second. Then, standing up straight, he rolled his eyes to the ceiling in silent prayer to whatever Deity might have been dropping in the neighbourhood at the time. "Alright," he said with a slight shrug of the shoulders. "I suppose I can fill you in a little bit, but not here." <need time to think.> "I'm in somewhat of a... delicate situation here." <Three hours 'till deadline. Dammit Kay, why'd you have to get involved in this?> 

Kay looked at him and nodded in approval. "Okay, let's go to my office then. You can tell me all about it." 

[Reality Check - Saturday Feb 13 2010, 1048 hours, Kay's Office] 

When they finally reached Kay's office, Thallin's spirit was at an all-time low. With only hours to Lang's deadline, he was forced to play cat-and-mouse games with an ex-journalist. <This is not good,> he reflected. 

Oblivious to Thallin's dilemma, Kay closed the door of the office behind them and went to the coffee put. Grabbing two mugs, she called out over her sheldour "How do you want it?" 

Thallin's mind jumped out of its tracks. "Sorry?" 

"Your coffee - how do you want it?" 

<How about as far from here as possible?> "NATO-standard, thanks." 

Kay turned back to what she was doing, paused momentarily as if thinking about something, then shook her head slightly and turned to face Thallin. The two mugs in her hands let out an aroma of fresh coffee <Fresh coffee? How'd she manage that?> as she moved towards Thallin and handed him one of the containers. 

"Thanks," said Thallin as he took the proferred mug. Kay shrugged slightly and sat on her desk, facing him. 

"Alright." She took a sip from her mug. "First order of business: what's in the bag?" 

"OK," Thallin answered in what he hoped was a flippant voice, "I give; What is in the bag?" 

Kay frowned, a warning of dire things to come. "I'm pretty damned sure you know what's in the bag. Give it up, Lieutenant. You're in enough shit as it is." 

<Oh heck. 'Lieutenant'. I'm really in the bad books.> "No need to get uptight. They're computer parts, that's all." 

"'Computer Part'. I've managed that much by myself already, Thallin. What are they for?" 

<Yeah, Thallin. What are they for?> spoke the annoying little voice in Thallin's mind. "Research and Development project I'm working on." Thallin hoped she would leave it at that, but the look on her face instantly dashed his hopes. 

"R&D? For the VX?" 

<YES! An out.> "Precisely. While the VX uses mainly off-the-shelf Robotechnology, some of the parts we use for the control systems are pretty specifics - some even custom made. I ran out of parts." <Come on, come on... fall for it.> 

"So why did you stash them in my locker?" Kay asked, apparently dismissing the components themselves. 

<YES!! Yesyesyesyesyes> "Well, what with the attack and the business with Tamara, I needed somewhere safe until things settled - your locker was the closest." Thallin studied Kay's face, but could not ascertain whether she was believing him. 

Kay took another sip from her coffee, her hand trembling slightly. "And how did you stash it in my locker?" This question took Thallin by surprise. <'It'? But there were two bags...> "That's not something you're supposed to be able to do casually." 

"Would you believe my keycard works on you locker?" Her withering look answered for her. "No, I see you don't." <In for a penny...> Thallin gave out a big sigh. "I had a copy of your keycard in my possession." 

"A keycard?" asked Kay, shocked. "My keycard? Where did you get a copy of my keycard?" 

Thallin looked at his cup and did not answer. 

"Well then," said Kay, leaning over her desk towards her phone. "Since you won't answer, I guess I'll have to ask Dr Lang about all of this." 

Thallin jumped up, spilling his coffee all over himself. "No! Don't!" He stopped and noticed the wry smile on Kay's face. <Shit! I've just been had.> 

"So Lang doesn't know about this either, huh?" She straightened up again. "So, once again, where did you get your copy?" 

Thallin finally noticed the hot coffee seeping in through his uniform and winced. "The tables at the Pegasus contain readers. A duplicator in the main office spat out a copy of your card." He noticed the way she was looking at him. "Honest!" 

"Kinda funny to have that kind of equipment in your club," replied Kay, still sipping her coffee. "I can hardly imagine what could be done with a personal key for just about every pilot on this ship." Thallin shrugged non-commitally. "You don't know who installed it?" 

"Not a clue," answered Thallin. 

Kay did not look as though she believed him. "Who built your club? Or did it just appear out of thin air?" 

"Hey, I'm not lying to you. I originally rented the place through Sergeant Sam'di before she was k- before she died." Thallin paused for the briefest of moment to see if Kay would pick up on his correction. "She asked what I needed, I told her I wanted to start a club, and she told me to leave everything to her." 

Kay was clearly not convinced. "Uhuh. Kinda convenient, isn't it? The person who provided you with the club and at least one illegal device suddenly dying?" 

Thallin's shoulders slumped. <Some days, you just can't win.> 

"Why the Hell did you go out on Mars in an unarmed trainer?" asked Kay, unexpectedly changing topics. 

From his slouch, Thallin answered "I am not cleared for an armed trainer-" 

"Very funny." 

"-and I needed a passenger seat," continued Thallin, undaunted. 

Kay finished her coffee in one gulp and went to the side-board for a refill. "So what were you out there for? What kind of things were you bringing back that you needed a passenger seat for space? You've got plenty of space in the cargo bins. And it certainly doesn't look like you'd need a passenger seat for the stuff in this bag." Turning back with a fresh mug and an ingratiating smile, she threw another question at him. "Why didn't you let S&R get the stuff themselves?" 

<You just had to make friends with a journalist, didn't you?> nagged the little voice. <Shut up,> answered Thallin. "Er... Well, you see... I... I'm in deep trouble already with Dr Lang over the amount of damage the VX-001 sustained in its first sortie over Macross Island. And if he found out I'd allowed it to go on other sorties without his permission, well..." Thallin let the sentence hang, hoping Kay would relate to his predicament. 

"Why couldn't you just make a special request? I've seen that you pretty much get what you want around here, so far as equipment is concerned." Kay's voice had suddenly turned acidic with her last statement, 

<NOW what?> "If I ordered the parts via normal channels, Lang would know the VX had suffered further damage. But if I could get the parts from Mars Base before the normal S&R crews got there, then everybody would be none the wiser." <Don't push it. Keep it simple. Keep it as close to the truth as possible.> 

"So in other words, there is no reason - apart from you keeping your job - for me not to throw this in the disposal chute?" Without another word, she grabbed the bag she had placed on her desk and strode towards the office's oubliette. 

"NO!" screamed Thallin, rushing towards her. 

"STOP!" Kay's hand hovered over the oubliette's mouth, the bag in her fist. Thallin stumbled to a halt. "Enough lies, Thallin. I want the truth, and I want it NOW!" 

Thallin winced and felt the last of his spirit break. "Izabelle is an AI, banned by the Tifarro Treaty. Lang found out about her through the requisitions I'd done to get the parts for her neural net. I have until 1700 today to disassemble Izabelle and present the parts to Lang." Thallin felt tears rise. "I had to get these parts, don't you understand? There's no way I could fool Lang unless I had the right components to show him. Please," he sobbed, sinking to his knees in front of her. "If I don't have these parts, Izabelle will be killed." 

Kay looked at Thallin as he sobbed quietly. "Ooohboy." 

Forward to Chapter 25/I>.
Back to Chapter 23/I>. 

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