CROSSFIRE - Atlantis DSV - New Cape Quest

inflexible, rational position that would force his hand, but the confusion and conflict she felt at
that moment had blown that apart with all the force of a great storm.
“Hello, Quinn,” Mackenzie said, stepping inside quietly before closing the door gently
behind him.
Roderick swallowed a lump in her throat, and continued to stare across the hangar,
her teeth clenching tightly for a moment that dragged on longer than either of them felt
comfortable with. Finally, she turned.
Gavin Mackenzie‟s heart skipped a beat as he saw her again, managing a weak
smile as he saw the gold tridents adorned upon her collar, and the way she stood – still
proud – behind the great oaken desk. This was what he always knew she was meant for,
and it filled him with a silent gratification that she could so then and there, despite what was
going on behind her tortured eyes at that moment. He knew the look well...
Devastation, betrayal... and love.
Roderick finally snapped back to reality, and began to march slowly around the desk
toward him, studying him the whole way before stopping several feet from him – daring not
to approach any further.
“I‟d come to accept that you died a long time ago,” she managed finally.
“Would it be easier if I were?”
She stared at him again. “Part of me wishes that, yes,” she said truthfully. “It would
be easier to accept that you‟d died nine months ago, than to even entertain the possibility
you could have betrayed that uniform.”
Mackenzie‟s jaw tightened. “...You mean to think that I might have betrayed you,” he
corrected.
Roderick wanted to slap him, hard, but that was why she had stopped so short of
him. Opening her mouth, she instead opted to step back silently and take a seat.
“You wanted to speak with me,” Mackenzie suggested finally, folding his hands
behind his back.
“Yes,” she replied bluntly. “I suspect you know what about, too,”
“Quinn,” he said lightly, “I‟d appreciate it if we could get to the point. I doubt you
wanted me to come here just to hear you say you are disappointed in me.”
Roderick straightened - her lip turning. “And I would appreciate it, Commander, if you
would do me the courtesy of using my rank.”
Mackenzie stiffened, nodding slowly. „So,‟ he thought silently to himself. „That‟s the
way it is, then.‟
“Understood.”
“Thank you.”
“So, Captain... What is it you wanted to discuss?”
~
“Tell me you didn‟t know!” snapped Ainsley at the monitor, his hands planted on the
desk like a bull ready to charge, steam billowing from an enraged snout. “Of all the stupid,
brain-dead ideas that moron has tabled, tell me this is one you did not support!”
Fleet Admiral Jack Riley pulled his lips in to a tight, thin line at the outburst, his
cheeks flushing. Few people had the position or cause to scream at the highest ranking
officer of the UEO armed forces, and even fewer would consider such an action a positive
career move, but Ainsley did not care.
The outrage was clear, and Riley – for his part – understood it perfectly. Ainsley
wasn‟t the first officer of his command to voice „displeasure‟ at the plan, and now he almost
certainly wouldn‟t be the last. The revelation had come like a bolt of lightning from a clear
blue sky, and Mark Ainsley was staggered beyond belief that it could have even been
suggested, let alone approved.
“Mark, I‟m sorry. I wanted to tell you, but Cathgate‟s orders were clear on the matter.
My relationship with the Secretary-General is already strained, and I couldn‟t risk it.”
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