>>5809796When questioning someone, it's best to keep them on edge. After some thinking, you came up with a few potential leverages, though none are particularly damning. Here goes nothing.
"Don't take me for a child. I know you are with them too. Silas already made Sofie talk." You raise your voice as much as you can.
The sergeant gasps in surprised fear, "Sofie would never...". He quickly gets a hold of himself, but his wrath is even more telling, "Watch your mouth, child! Even if I am Silas's friend, I have to teach you a lesson for that." You raise your hand to block his blow, but it never comes. Your eyes are not accustomed to the dim light, but someone seems to have grasped both of the hot-headed sergeant's hands and bent them behind his back. A familiar voice greets you, "Sorry for not coming in sooner, but I was hoping you can make this idiot run his mouth for a bit longer."
The light turns on, and unexpectedly, another officer is kneeling over the subdued sergeant's back. Silas, standing off the one side, spits on the floor next to the man's face, "Think yerself so clever for taking my boss hostage, eh? Well guess who's the prisoner now?" Even though you know he deserves it, you couldn't help pity the sergeant as Silas sends kick after kick into his ribcage.
Only after he was satisfied with his frontier justice does Silas realise he has forgotten something, "Where are my manners? Sylvie, this is Commander Jean-Pierre de Tassigny of the Directorate Navy. Jean, this is my new boss Sylvia Thornton."
Commander Tassigny gives you a hasty salute which you stiffly return. Another guard comes in and escorts the disgraced sergeant out of the cell, leaving an awkward silence behind. Silas quickly intervenes, "You see, Jean here graduated top of my class, just a couple points above me. The Directorate was strapped for ships back then, so only he got an assignment on an actual ship. After drinking most of my wages away at a backwater defense station for a few months, I decided to quit the Navy for good and went in search of greener pastures."
His former classmate broke out in laughter, "Only a couple points? Last time I checked, in our class everyone but you got a decent assignment. Still, that might have worked out much better in the long run..." You suddenly notice that both his shirt sleeves are significantly longer than regulation, obscuring most of the arms. He heaves a long sigh, and only a faint smile still traces across his thin lips.
Ever the professional, Tassigny quickly gets back to business, "Now that we have made a move, the Liberation Front will surely keep a close watch over the Hermes. Captain Thornton, and you, Silas, have to get off this ship first chance you get. I will have Intelligence scrub your names from the passenger registry and secure a couple of tickets on the Nineveh. You will get to Liteia late, but as our other classmates had figured out, better late than never." Of course, he must have a sarcastic streak too.
