Celia opened her eyes and immediately knew things for her were about to get extremely uncomfortable. The room was dark and she felt groggy. The last thing she remembered with the CIO hauling her off the floor by her neck…her shirt....her collar? Normally she had a crystal clear memory for events like this. It helped to be instantly awake when one was an intelligence operative. Right now she felt disoriented.

Taking a second she surveyed the room. It appeared to be barren of any decoration. There seemed to be no real lights: Just black and darkened shadows. She could be in a closet, in a holding cell, or some other secluded place. The one thing she knew was that she was not in the brig. “So is this where we break out the thumbs screws because I know the protocol as well as you?” It was normal for even the most experienced agent to feel trepidation in situations like this. Normally being caught by your own side or that of a Federation member meant you were probably going to have a walk in the park with the interrogation. Civilized people did not do the creative things others did. The wild card was the kid. Universally people became less rational when one involved children but since this mission was about a child, it was hard to exclude that element. Celia never held too much concern about kids. They simply grew up to be adults one day but not all people held this pragmatic view.

Celia Decker, intelligence officer