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Last Episode : Memorandum #015
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Having just finished supper I retired to my quarters for some light reading before sleep. These people can be so tiresome sometimes. I had barely settled when a hard knock came on my door. “Enter” I called, and a head appeared around it. “Sorry to bother you Gráinne, but Ali’s baby is coming.” JP said softly his eyes looking worried. “Alright coming, is she in her quarters or the med bay?” JP shrugged, his honest eyes scanned my quarters. I felt embarrassed about the mess of papers, books and laundry. “Right, let’s go. Med bay I’d say, she was checking on some patients there.” I sighed putting my book aside, and picked up the basic first aid kit I had in my room, before opening the door and following him.

Ali was in one of the few private rooms with Stevie beside her holding her hand looking very pale and worried. Muis was also there and I chased both him and JP out to get some hot water and towels. Ali had a tight grip on Stevies hand and was sweating profusely and I could see the pain in her face from contractions although she was barely making a sound. “I can feel him coming.” she gasp screamed and I saw Stevie flinch and go even more pale. “Okay let me have a look.” I said, before gently lifting the sheet that had been placed over her lower body. Leaning forward I could just see the crown of his head coming through. They had called me really late. “This shouldn’t be much longer,” I said out loud “I can see his head, come on push with the contractions.” It seemed like forever but couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes before the little baby boy entered our world, with a shock of black hair and blue eyes.

I let the new Father cut the cord and moved the baby into one of the barely warm water basins that JP and Muis had brought back with them, to bathe him, drying him off delicately with the rough, military towels nearby. I placed him in his Mother’s arms. She smiled tiredly down at him and started to give him his first feed. “What you calling him?” I asked. Dr. Stevie cleared his throat. He leaned down and held his new son’s tiny hand. “Tadgh, after our auld Commander and Johan after my Grandfather.” Ali replied with a sigh and a tired smile. She started to hum a lullaby softly and Stevie leaned closer and rested his head next to her, a big smile on his pale face. I stood quietly and left them to go get cleaned up.

I had barely finished my shower and got into clean clothes before going back to check on them, when I received another hard knock on my door. Was I getting no peace tonight! I opened it to find Winters standing there. I sighed heavily. “What do you want Winters I’m busy!” “You’re needed, we have that new recruit Greta on trial as a spy and we need someone to defend her. No one else will. Will you stand for her?” I was at my wits end. “Are you people crazy!?” He remained cold, like he was a million miles away. “We have proof Gráinne, are you coming or do we do it with her defending herself?” I stared hard at him. Then took a quick look around my apartment for anything out of place, before following him to the room where they were holding the trial.

I walked through the door. It was kind of dark in here. I could see “Greta” chained and kneeling on the floor, her white hair roots showing, head bowed in front of a tall vestibule. They must have salvaged it out of the ruins. She looked pretty beaten up, two black eyes. At the centre of the table was Prof Le Roux or Ratel as they call him, to his left was Claire O’Malley or the White Fox. To his right was a disinterested looking Raven. This was serious. “Is this the way you treat your prisoners!” I shouted angrily. Ratel glared at me as he leaned forward and banged the gavel in front of him. “Greta Mauseth, you are accused of spying to outside agencies and this trial is being held to hear your defence of that claim, if any, after Captain Winters here lays out the charges. If you will Captain.” Ratel stated, before leaning back in his chair, his deep brown eyes glaring at the prisoner in front of him. Winters stepped forward with a sheaf of papers in his hands, he placed them in front of the judges. “Those are the full statements of eye witnesses, but I will give you a summary of all charges.” he said, before stepping back and standing to attention, his eyes on the prisoner. “Number One. She goes out to work on the clearing of damaged sites, but actually does nothing the area she works on remains the same as before she arrived. Two. She was seen replacing green contact lenses by another soldier. The contraband of a spy! Her eyes are not green but red, she’s an albino. “Really!?” asked Raven, who appeared to snap out of a daydream. “That’s cool. Proceed.” She’d broken Winter’s pace.”*ahem* Number Three. She was seen collecting and distributing Type 4 pills from a cellar where Goshawk soldiers had been seen a few hours earlier. Finally, her history is incomplete, she cannot even provide us with the name of the refugee camp she supposedly stayed at after her “Unit” the Fenrirsdozen was destroyed. I have it on good authority that there were no survivors of said Unit and she is not who she says she is. To summarize my argument, she has lied continuously from the day she arrived here, she is clearly a spy, a pretty lame one yet still the severity of her crime should be treated with justice.” Winters stated matter-of-factly, striding before the Judges. His face and eyes were hard as he looked at Greta below him.

The three Judges eyes turned towards me for comment, I could see the judgement in two of their eyes already, Claire and Ratel were lovers now. Raven’s eyes were totally unreadable and scary white-blue. I took a deep breath and stepped forward. “You expect me to provide a defence without having seen these incriminating statements? Or having a chance to talk to the ones who made it? This is not a trial its a lynch mob! Surely justice can afford a few days to peruse the evidence, statements and then speak to the persons making them. I motion that this supposed spy, who has been locked up and provided late representation, this Ms. Greta should be kept in general lockup until I have time to make a defence.” I felt Claire’s piercing blue eyes drilling a mental hole into me, but it was Raven that answered. “She is right, we are not a kangaroo court, we must give her time to give a defence, or we are no better than those we’d see undone.” I saw Claire turn to look in her direction and start to say something, but Ratel raised a hand to stop her. “This will be a fair trial. Everyone in favor of giving Gráinne two days to peruse the evidence say Aye.” Raven responded with “Aye”. Claire just glared daggers at him. “That settles it, Gráinne you have two days. She will be held in the drunk tank until then. Best we can do at the moment, I’ll make sure she won’t be harassed, on my honour. We’ll be back in two days at the same time. Use that time well.” he banged the gavel down, before motioning at Winters to remove the prisoner. I snapped my mouth shut as I realised it was hanging open. It was totally unexpected from him. As I turned and followed Winters out the door, I couldn’t help thinking that there was more to Ratel than people saw, inside he had a sense of fairness when it came to justice.

Dublin, Ireland
Day 4,309, eRT 23.15

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Subject: The Rook Takes Queen

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Man, the fresh air. It was a bit frightening to be atop Liberty Hall. It was almost ruined by the constant shelling. The roof kind of leaned downwards, alot. I found a sturdy spot to sit. I could see all the stars. So strange for a city. Bad central electrics. Air raids, probably. You could see colour amidst the stars like a greeny-cyan, deepening and glowing. I felt dizzy. I was frightened of Ali exposing me. Even all the way up here in the breeze, I’m getting hit with luke warm wind, Gad I’m still roasting. I could see a gargantuan army of grey clouds rolling into the bay, sparkling with lightning. No thunder. I fell asleep.

“What will you say of me?” I was in the woods or something and he was proposing. I shut the ring box and woke up. Maybe I could just leave? Go to a weirder skyscraper full of the same kind of people. Maybe it’d be fun? They could have good banter? They’d wear me out. I already feel stretched. It was time to make the call. I made a cross gesture. I wasn’t even religious.


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“There’s catch. 14 undertone. Copy?” I bit my lip. “Copy that. Granted. Who’s inquiring?” Ah! Not now! Idiot! I’d forgotten. I stared vacantly, tracing it in my memory then chanced “*ahem* Rook. The ‘em Rook.” Sh*t! I felt a gun barrel on the back of my neck. “Keep talking.” a whisper said coldly from behind me. “Wounded. Heartbroken. Ehh... “ The person holding the gun jabbed me with it. “Ah! Hiberno close.” There was a long pause. “Copy that. Stru-*static*. A breeze picked up and I felt an urge to go for whoever it was. Winters, of course. He laid me flat with a sweep. “Gráinne Sweeney, you’re under arrest for subversion.” Such hypoctrical bullsh*t. “You’ve made a huge mistake Winters.” He walked me out to the yard via the North Stairwell. He could have fed me to the lions to be fair.

Signing off,

Gráinne Sweeney, Journalist