The Elsewhere Files

Role Reversals - Mission One

 [Nguyen]: “At least she didn’t take the SUV this time.” tone sounds reconciliatory

[Crowe]: grunts

[Nguyen]: “Anyone ever told you that your conversational skills are lacking?” smiles

[Crowe]: grunts again

[Nguyen]: “Fine, are you sure this is the best course of action?”

[Crowe]: “Yes.” Nguyen gives the Major a prompting look. The Major sighs and seems to let go of some of the tension ”Even without the tracker in the SUV to help us narrow the search down, I can guarantee you that she didn’t just tell us where to go and take off in the opposite direction. Maybe at the beginning she’d have done that. But not now.”

[Nguyen]: frowns “Why not?”

[Crowe]: stays silent

[Nguyen]: “Is this one of those ‘you’re a subordinate so shut up’ things or is it a ‘I need my best friend to pester it out of me’ thing?” tone sounds annoyed

[Crowe]: “She wasn’t trying to run last time.”

[Nguyen]: looks surprised “What?”

[Crowe]: shakes his head “When I found the SUV, she’d left the keys where I’d shown her to hide them and had thrown a bag into the back. She’d gone out to pick up hair dye and that’s when Barry made his first move.”

[Nguyen]: looks confused “Alright, but what does that situation have to do with this one?”

[Crowe]: shrugs “If she didn’t run then, why is she running now? Yes I hurt her feelings. Big deal, she’ll get over it. I’ve said worse things to her since we started working together. She’s said worse things to me. So why is she running now?”

[Nguyen]: looking wary “I feel like you already have the answer to that question and you’re just trying to make me catch up to your thought process. Just spit it out Major. I don’t need to feel smart.”

[Crowe]: smiles darkly “She ran because she thinks it’ll keep us safe. That circle on the map? It’s not where Barry Hoover is. I confirmed with HQ before we headed out. The Elsewhere Pocket there is irregular. It’s fluctuating and seems to be lacking the sustainability of other Pockets. My guess is that Kiera is sending us there because there’s something in the Pocket we need to know or need to deal with asap.”

[Nguyen]: “And you’re fine with that? You’re perfectly ok with letting Kiera run away while we go investigate a Pocket that may or may not be safe on the off chance that it has something we need?” tone sounds disbelieving

[Crowe]: laughs “Danny, just think about it for a minute. Do you really think Kiera would leave without making sure that we’re safe? She’ll be there. Watching. Making sure that nothing sneaks up on us. My mistake wasn’t keeping her at a distance, my mistake was not seeing the inevitable rebellion. That woman isn’t capable of being left behind! I’d be willing to lay money on the fact that she did this just to remind me, us, that she’s not predictable and placid.”

[Nguyen]: looks at the Major and raises an eyebrow “You sound almost proud of her sir.”

[Crowe]: grins “Of course I am Captain. She’s managed to force us to do what she wants us to, all the while evading both us and the enemy. You have to admit, for a civilian, she sure is full of surprises.”

[Nguyen]: amused glint to smile and eyes “Sure, I’ll let you keep deluding yourself.”

[Crowe]: frowns “What’s that supposed to mean?”