Facing The Board
Captain Derikon stepped past the edge of the conference room partition and stopped squarely before the center table.
Her hands rested against the fabric of her camouflage trousers as she locked her gaze directly across the polished wood.
Behind the central desk sat a line of officers in full uniform, backed by a sprawling blue screen of digital assessment metrics.
None of them shifted their weight or reached to greet her.
“Then why didn’t you question it?” she asked, her voice remaining level beneath the low hum of the ceiling panels.
Across from her, the seated officer tightened his right hand against the tabletop, his knuckles whitening against the grain.
He pulled his fingers inward, pressing his palms flat before offering an answer.
“I trusted the system,” he said, leaning slightly forward toward the reflection of the display screens.
The Unbending Exchange
Derikon did not tilt her head or blink as he spoke.
Her jaw muscles tightened slightly beneath weathered skin, holding her cap straight above her brow.
“You trusted the result you wanted,” she countered, each syllable landing without extra breath.
The man across from her pushed both hands down and stood up rapidly, kicking his chair back an inch against the carpet.
His chest heaved once as his frame rose above the seated colleagues flanking him.
“I won’t be lectured by a retired captain!” he shouted, his shoulders rounding as he leaned his upper body across the distance.
The junior officer on the left kept his eyes fixed strictly on the center desk, while the commander in dress tans remained upright in the background without moving a muscle.
Derikon let the echo of the man’s shout settle against the room.
She kept both boots planted on the floor, absorbing the outburst without moving back an inch.
The Mark On The Table
Derikon lifted her right hand from her side, reaching into the pocket of her tactical blouse.
Her fingers emerged gripping a dark bi-fold wallet trimmed with black leather.
With a single swift motion, she set the wallet hard onto the smooth surface of the table and slid it forward beneath the officer’s eyes.
The leather made a sharp slap against the polished wood as her palm pinned it flat.
The identification window caught the fluorescent light, displaying a laminated credential labeled “Senior Investigative Evaluator – Federal Training Standards Review.”
The standing officer stopped speaking mid-breath, his mouth parting as his eyes tracked down to the text.
To his right, the younger officer tilted his head back, his jaw dropping open while his throat hitched.
The grey-haired commander standing behind them narrowed his eyebrows, his eyes shifting from the badge up to Derikon’s collar.
Nobody moved to touch the wallet or slide it away.
A Different Role
Derikon withdrew her fingers from the leather surface, letting the credentials remain resting between them.
Her chin lifted just enough to align with the standing officer’s stare.
“I didn’t come here as a competitor,” she stated plainly, keeping her hands loosely resting at her hips.
She took a shallow breath, holding the line before the blue digital boards.
“I came here as evidence,” she said, her mouth set in a straight line beneath the brim of her patrol cap.
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