It All Started With Magnets

.24.

Hudson

Luke stood just outside the ship, watching the Vice-Admiral pace. "It was a valid question! We need to understand their morals and their ethics." He wasn't happy but Luke wasn't going to say anything about it. "I know she's not actually military but she needs to understand insubordination isn't allowed."

That had Luke remembering seeing her sitting on that damned tiny bed, looking rather small saying how she was scared she was going to fuck things up. He had seen pressure get to even the best operatives and Roxanne Matthews was barrelling towards a point where she would break under it. She was holding up fairly well all things considered, especially for not being trained for literally any of it, but it was definitely getting to her, she was cracking around the edges.

"Sir, she's one person who is expected to facilitate the most important political meet up in all of human history. It's a lot of pressure." Luke would hazard a guess it was probably a bit too much pressure. She wasn't an operative, she wasn't politically savvy, she seemed to barely understand basic military rules. She seemed actually fairly resistant to learning about it but from her own mouth, she didn't like being someone, she preferred it when she was no one. Which was kind of sad in a way because she would never again be just a regular citizen. This was her life now.

"Pressure or not, she needs to understand the rules of engagement and military decorum." He continued to pace and Luke shifted his weight slightly.

"She's a civilian, sir, regardless of her military rank right now. She's a civilian." As much as Luke hated the fact he had been put on this mission instead of on his op overseas with his team, he understood the shit storm that was currently blowing up with Matthews sitting right in the middle of it. He understood that if anyone needed a bit of extra protection, it was her. She was completely unprepared for the political ramifications of her inventions and her discovery of aliens and it was because she was, down and out, a civilian. She was walking completely blind.

Commander Hollister stopped and rubbed at his face, looking all together too tired. "She's an asset, Colonel." The look he gave him was tired and almost sad. "She won't ever be a civilian again." And that was what made it kind of really fucking sad for Luke. War could change people, military engagements could change people, you saw things and you learned things that you could never come back from. It was worse with the civilians, they didn't choose to be apart of any of it, yet they had to suffer too. Matthews wasn't part of a war, Luke wasn't even sure what to call it really, but it seemed to be just as bad, if in a different way. She could never go back to who she was before all of this.

"She's still a person, sir." Asset or not, Roxanne Matthews was a person, regardless of her current political and military worth. She was still a person underneath everything and that had to be taken into account.

That had the Commander stopping, heaving out a breath. "I know that more than anyone, Colonel. She's under my command because we decided to bring her into this. I don't take enjoyment out of the steps we've taken in regards to her but they needed to be done to secure the assets." Hollister shook his head slowly. "I wish she could go back to being a standard civilian, this type of volatile political playground is no place for her but we have no choice." He looked at him intently and Luke straightened underneath it. "I know you're not happy with this post, Hudson, but you're a damned good Ops Commander. That's why you were chosen as her handler. You can make plans in rapidly evolving situations that ensure your team can get home safely. That's why we chose you." Luke nodded, looking off to the side. He wasn't happy with the post, he hadn't been since he had been pulled from his team and told he needed to take it. But he also understood the reasoning for why.

"You can hate this post all you want but all I care about is that woman in there, is kept safe. That is your mission, Colonel Hudson, to ensure that she is kept safe from all threats both foreign and domestic." Hollister's voice was low but clear and Luke nodded sharply. "She can change the world, the very political landscape of earth, and she is the only stepping stone we have to forming a good political relationship with species that are vastly superior to us technology wise." Hollister lifted his chin, his eyes sharp. "I cannot stress the importance of her safety enough. If something happens to her, we are in not only a political shit storm on earth, but it could very well devolve into war. That isn't even to mention that I don't believe that those aliens will take her being harmed laying down."