Her uniform was black. Strict short skirted double-breasted tunic with a round choker collar and a hole in the chest where once was a medal. Matching trousers, a pair of black knee boots and a leather belt with a scull-shaped buckle which now was missing. She noticed that trousers' knee was ripped and sighted. Once noble-looking, her uniform now was covered with prison-dust and some brown mud.
"Miss O'Sullivan", the gentle voice returned her to reality. The small dark room she was sitting in had only two chairs and metallic table between them. Across the table the young man was sitting. His clean-shaved face was full of false pity. He wasn't wearing any specific uniform, but O'Sullivan was pretty sure she was facing an interrogator.
"Yes?" - the sound of her own voice surprised her. It was weak and quiet. "No wonder", she thought, "I had no one to speak with for the last couple of days".
"First of all, for the record, could you introduce yourself?"
She shook her head. "Time to put yourself together, O'Sullivan". She was confident that her warders expected her now to be exhausted. And she was ready to prove them wrong. O'Sullivan lifted her head, leaned back on a chair and put one leg on another.
"My name is Natalie O'Sullivan. Imperial officer, first pilot of corvette "Harrier" under the command of commissar Alexander Nord".
"I see", her interrogator sighted, "Listen, Natalie. You're young good-looking woman, and I'm sure none of this nonsense was ever in your plans."
Natalie smiled. She was used to this kind of talk. Especially in her smuggler's past. Some guy, thinking he is in control of situation tries to buy her trust some with lousy compliments. However, Natalie knew she looked pretty good. She had neat figure, big, gray eyes, and dark hair, bounded in a ponytail with purple dyed ends. There was something in her appearance that exuded the spirit of adventurism.
"But the situation doesn't look very good for you right now, you see? War dictates the rules, and if you don't cooperate, they will shoot you away just like that!"
"What do you want to know?" she smiled. Natalie decided that if her interrogator was going to play the role of a good guy, she will let him do this. After all, that was much more pleasant than beatings and tortures.
"Because if you want me to cooperate, then you better start asking the right questions."
"That's much better." The smile on her warder's face grew even wider. Natalie couldn't guess his age. He looked on mid-twenties, which nowadays meant that he could be easily from twenty to sixty years old. Since Earth scientists learned how do decelerate aging, telling one person's age became no easy task. "We are interested in any information concerning your commander and his partner. Alexander Nord and Herbert Wolf, am I correct?"
"Yes", she nodded, "What exactly do you want to know about these two?"
"Everything. I know it can be hard for a soldier to commit a treason like this, but let's be honest, Natalie. You're not a soldier, you're a smuggler, Void knows how ended up in Imperial army and..."
The look she gave him after these words shut him up more efficiently than a bullet would. But after a moment, she smiled again.
"How can I call you?" Natalie asked.
"Dirk Pailen"
"Well, Dirk, no. That won't be hard at all. Where should I start from?"
"From the beginning. How did you make acquaintance of commissar Nord?"
"No surprise, but under pretty similar circumstances. Would you kindly ask somebody to make some tea? I have a feeling, it's going to be a pretty long night."