"I- I'm sorry, Lieutenant Terrence," the ensign stuttered nervously against Kat's obvious show of irritation. "I know you usually come on Tuesdays, but he said you'd asked him to pick Jacks up instead. Is... is that okay?"

Kat huffed a little to herself, because she had been looking forward to seeing her son, and because she hadn't asked Mode the slightest thing about picking up Jacks from school today. It wasn't usually like him to upset their routine, since it tended to make both Kat and Jacks cranky-- and that was exactly what she was at the moment. Cranky. The ensign concentrated on looking everywhere but at her and started shuffling papers around to seem busy, and Kat watched her and counted to ten before speaking again. "It's alright," she conceded grudgingly. "I just didn't know my husband would be getting Jacks."

"Oh, it wasn't Captain Terrence." The girl glanced up briefly, and quickly returned to her paper shuffling when she saw the look Kat gave her. "It was your father."

My father?

That... that wasn't possible, and Kat stared flatly at the girl as she tried to make sense of it. Her father. Her father couldn't be here, couldn't have taken Jacks, because he was far away on Earth, far away from them, where he belonged. Maybe she was mistaken. Maybe she'd heard her wrong, or misunderstood... but Kat didn't believe any of the reassurances that tried to soothe her immediate reaction. And her immediate reaction was furious disbelief.

"My father?! You're wrong, it wasn't my father, my father is on Earth. Was it Mode? Was it Owen? It wasn't my father!"

On the last she slammed her fist on the desk, and the ensign jumped, dropping her papers and hiccuping in surprise. "But... but his identification said Robert Quistin... isn't he your father, Lieutenant Terrence? He... he even looked like you, and his papers said--"

Kat slammed her hands down again and hissed. "I don't care what the papers said, you little bitch, and if you've given my son to him I'll kill you, I will, I'll kill you."

"Lieutenant Terrence!"

"WHERE DID THEY GO?!" she thundered, and when the girl burst into tears Kat reached over the edge of the desk and grabbed her by the collar. "Tell me," she whispered, all the more frightening with that tenuously calm, cold tone. "Tell me right now where they've gone."

The girl cried louder, quailed and bawled and tried to squirm out of Kat's grasp, but Kat would have none of it, and shook her violently. The commotion was drawing a crowd from the adjoining rooms, and when another ensign made to interrupt she bared her teeth and hissed nastily before returning her attention to the one in hand. "TELL ME!"

"I... I don't know, Lieutenant Terrence, he... he said they were... they were meeting you... for dinner..."