Defending the Frontier

Chapter 9: The Interrogation

(Sarah's POV)

(A/N: One or two chapters might be written in a different POV, such as this one.)

Someone was shaking me. I thought it might've been Meg, as I gave her official duties for watching her younger brother, Nico. I opened my eyes and I wa surprised when I saw Bish, but something felt different. I looked to see what it was, and I actually had my robotic arm on, and I then sat up and saw Michael.

He sighed. "Took a lot less time than I thought it would."

I looked at Bish. "What do you want?" I asked, a yawn and stretch between you and want.

Bish sighed. "I need to ask you some questions. Don't worry. You aren't in trouble or anything, and as long as you cooperate, and what we think to be the truth is the truth, you won't be on trouble."

I got out of bed, and slipped my shoes on. "What are the questions about?"

Bish sighed. "Vice Admiral Stone."

I nodded. I practically saw this coming. I think I know what her true identity is, but I'm not one hundred percent sure about it. At least not yet.

===

I followed Bish to an interrogation room, and we went in, and of course there was the one-way window. I sighed. "Anyone going to be watching us?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Michael and possibly the other Sarah."

I nodded, and sat down in a chair, and Bish sat across from me. "How many questions do you have for me?"

Bish sighed. "Initially, three. But if more arise, I will ask them. Alright?"

I nodded. "Alright. I get it. Ask away."

Bish sighed. "Alright. First off... Do you recognize this individual?" he asked while handing me a profile of a person.

I quickly looked it over, and recognized two things. One was that it was Michael's older sister, Lauren Stone. Then... Then I realized that Lauren... She is the current Vice Admiral for the IMC. I nodded. "Yes... This is Lauren Stone. Michael's sister... And she's also the IMC's current Vice Admiral."

Bish nods. "That is correct. Now, when was the first time you met Mrs. Stone?"

I thought for a moment. "Hm... If I recall correctly, it waa after my fifth date with Michael."

"Approximately how long ago was that encounter?"

"... I'd say... Twenty years ago or so?"

Bish then pressed an earpiece. "Michael? Does that sound correct? ... Alright. You check out with that. Now, I will let you know that the next two questions are ones that Michael cannot confirm for me, so I want the complete and honest truth. Alright?"

I nodded. "Alright."

Bish then took Lauren's file from me, and produced another one. "Before I give you this, I have a question. Before you were kidnapped by the IMC, were you aware that Lauren's husband is a hugely active member of the IMC?"

I shook my head. "No. But I do know that his first name starts with an M, and his last name is obviously Stone."

Bish nodded, and handed me the folder, and I opened it. "Meet Titan Pilot Max Berg Stone. Lauren's husband."

I looked it over. I immediately recognized the guy. I've seen him all around the IMS Warhong, and now that I think about it, he'd always be giving me a weird look, as if I had done something. That's when I realize that I wasn't the doer, but he was. He must've been collecting data on me for Lauren!

Bish could obviously tell that I thinking about something. "Hm? What is it Sarah? Is something ringing a bell?"

I nodded. "Yes, actually. I've seen Mr. Stone here all over the IMS Warhog."

"And? Anything else?"

"Yeah. All the time, no matter when or where I saw him, he seemed to be writing things down, glancing at me, and then his paper, and he'd do that constantly. That gives me reason to believe that he was gathering information on me for some reason, one that was not approved by, ah, former Vice Admiral Graves. I also think that you could ask him about that as well."

Bish nodded and jotted down a note on some paper. "Alright. One last question before you go. Before you were kidnapped, what was the most recent interaction you had with Mrs. Stone?"

I sighed. That was an easy question. "It was about a week before I was kidnapped. We had a holo-sation (A conversation via a hologram) that lasted maybe ten minutes at best."

"What did you and Mrs. Stone talk about?"

"Well, she seemed... She seemed..."

"What is it? What did she seem?"

"She seemed oddly interested in how I rose to become the Militia Leader in Snowpoint, and that's what we talked about."

Bish jotted something else down. "Alright. Final question. Are you still in possession of the holo-phone (The device used to have holo-sations. You would make a holo-call from your holo-phone to have a holo-sation. It's that simple.) that you talked to Mrs. Stone with on that day?"

I thought for a moment, and then shook my head. "... No. I mean, I don't have it with me, but I had it when the IMC kidnapped me. It was... It was in...the..... It was in the basement..."

Bish looked at me, concerned. "Is something wrong Sarah?"

I sighed. "I'm not sure if this is classified as wrong, but I just realized why I led the raid on Snowpoint under the control of the IMC. They... They wanted me to find that holo-phone. They had, possibly still have, some reason to want it," I said before getting up. "Send a search team out to Snowpoint. We need that holo-phone."

Bish nodded. "Those were my thoughts exactly. We will send a search team out as soon as possible.

===

I was in the firing range with Michael and Nico. We finally decided to give Meg a break. I stooped down to Nico's height. "Can you show me what you can do?" I asked him.

He nodded and fired a blast of fire at a target.

I smiled. "That is great Nico!" I then turned to Michael. "What do you think?"

He sighed. "... I think I need to go and call my sister, he said before suddenly walking out.