[Oddly, it doesn't sound like a boast. More like a statement of fact.
Maketh feels her jaw twitch and fights down the urge to snap. She didn't hurt Kareem or Itani. She cared more for the two of them then she's cared for anyone since. But she doesn't say that. It's not helpful. She has to be strategic here. Play the game, soldier. And play to win.]
I already have a life sentence, Doctor Brennan. I spend the majority of my time in solitary confinement. If you do not provide an incentive to me right now, in this room, I will call the guards and that will be the last you see of me.
[It's said simply, all business.]
There's no one still living who knew Kareem or Itani. No one who'd talk with you, anyway.
[There's no one she works with regularly on the other side of the wall here, but Brennan glances at the camera anyway, acknowledging the FBI's presence and witness to this. Whether or not they back her up on what she is about to say is irrelevant. They need Maketh Tua to talk, and Brennan will do what she can to make that happen. They cannot fault her logic. They would do the same.]
I have a--- connection. A contact in the FBI. If you cooperate, I can talk with him about shortening your sentence, or at least moving you somewhere more comfortable. You would be free to discuss the particulars with him. I am just a forensic anthropologist. It is not within my power to make you an offer beyond this.
[Again, statements of facts. Nothing more, nothing less.] This could be your chance to atone. Or if you do not care about atonement, it could be your chance to get to somewhere better.
I'm not leaving this place. People with more power than you have seen to it.
[But she does want something, desperately. The trick is not letting on how much she'll give for it. Maketh twitches. Forces herself to sit up straighter.]
I want access to the library. Get that to me - in writing, Doctor - and I'll answer you questions.
[That gets Brennan's calm to fade into a frown.] That's-- that's it? [No, no, just agree and move on.] Yes. Of course. We can get you access to the library.
[Another glance at the camera. They had better start working on this request.]
It might take some time -- paperwork usually does -- but this is a request I'm confident that it's within our power.
[That's a curious reaction. Maketh thins her mouth, wondering what the doctor was expecting. There's nothing in this place that Maketh really wants besides allies, and this is hardly the place to gather them. But the library --
She fears going insane, in her quieter moments. The books will help. Give her something to do.]
That's bought you some answers, Doctor Brennan. Ask them.
[She's used to criminals requesting a lighter sentence for pretty awful crimes. Someone requesting access to a library is... strange, to say the least.
But yes. Questions. The Deols.]
Yes. [She glances at the case file again. Keep it simple. Not accurate.] Their injuries are consistent with a fall from a high altitude at a high velocity. The particulates on the victims' bones indicate the impact site was 110 kilometers from the site. The military base where all of you trained has a program for training pilots, yes? Are you trained in operating aircraft?
[Hodgins had posited that it was a spacecraft that they fell in, but that's just ridiculous.]
[That hadn't been her place. Maketh watches Brennan closely. How much does she know, really? It seems like most of the records were scrubbed clean. The Deols had a family, once - a family full of officers carrying on the proud tradition - but they were all dead now. Long live the admiral and his tragic children. Aside from their names - and she'd needed clarification on even that - Doctor Brennan doesn't seem to know a great deal. Only things that their bodies would know. Nothing about Kareem or Itani as they were, as people. Maketh is probably the only person still alive who remembered them.
What a strange thought.]
They were.
[She keeps her face carefully empty. This woman isn't an ally of Maketh's. All she's bought is information.]
There was an experimental prototype they were training on. Dangerous in those days. They're called TIEs now. The model is stable. It was deemed too expensive to manufacture on an industrial scale. The Air Force didn't want anything to do with them.
[Just because she isn't formally trained doesn't mean she isn't self-taught, or that she didn't know enough to kill them. The TIE bit she notes mentally. Hodgins will love that.]
My team places their death at eighteen to twenty years ago. They were young. [Perhaps they were test pilots. Perhaps they were made to be test pilots in order to be easily disposed of. Accidents during a testing phase are not exactly uncommon.] Is there anyone who would have had reason to kill them?
[They'd all been young in those days, and most of them had been stupid too. Too wrapped up in finally having a place to realize what that meant. There were reasons the Empire recruited young. She sees that now.
Maketh shrugs.]
A lot of people wanted them dead. I'm not giving you names, so I suggest that you refrain from asking.
I am not interested in discovering who wanted them dead. [Well, she is, but it's not her job, strictly speaking.] My concern is with determining cause of death, correctly identifying the remains, and providing the FBI with information that will help them find out who killed them or had them killed. I am not FBI, if that is something that would deter you from answering my questions.
[She does wish Booth or Sweets were here, though. They're both better at this.
Brennan takes a brrath and gathers her thoughts again. Remember the evidence, remember the findings thus far, remember what you're looking for.] What do you know about the flight that led to their death?
[Isn't she, then. Curious. Maketh watches Brennan for a long moment, wondering. There are risks in talking about this at all. The Empire hasn't had her killed - not yet - because they don't deem her the sort of threat that requires eliminating. Thus far she's been allowed to stay breathing, so long as she's locked away and out of sight. But if information she gives leads to evidence being found - unlikely, but possible - about a group of deaths twenty years buried, now that's something all together different.
Probably something worth killing her over.
Not that she really has much to live for right now. At the very least, it will give her something to do if she plays it right.]
I know they were part of a training squad. Designation: Delta Squadron. Kareem was Delta Leader. Itani was Delta One.
[Training squadrons always have eight members. Maketh tips her head to the side. Doctor Bennan seems intelligent. She'll figure it out.]
And I know you haven't been able to track down the other six.
Yes, my partner mentioned that we are missing others' remains.
[Booth knows these things. Military terminology and strategy and structure is his particular area of expertise.
They aren't getting much they don't already know. The information about the squadron name and their rank doesn't mean as much to Brennan as it would to Booth, but that's for later. The paperwork to fulfill Maketh Tua's request will give them a chance to meet again, perhaps. They will have another chance.
But right now, she needs to make better use of their time. Brennan watches Maketh Tua for a few seconds. Who is she, what is her story, what secrets lie written on her bones?
Bones. That's a good place to start.]
I am going to tell you everything I know about Kareem and Itani Deol based on my examination of their remains. [Because there is nothing to hide.
So she relates her findings: age, sex, place of origin, fractures and injuries suffered over their short lives, the height from which they fell, what the impact did to their bodies, ultimate cause of death. She reveals what Hodgins gleaned from particulate matter found on the bones: the location of the crash, the materials left on them by the wreckage, the plants that grew in the crash site.]
It is both a wealth of information and very little to work with. We did, however, obtain enough to have our artist create facial reconstructions of each of them.
[She finds the pages in the folder and sets them on the table in front of Maketh. Angela has drawn them with neutral features because they were military, but bright eyes because they were young.
Brennan allows Maketh to look at them in silence for a while before she continues.]
We know how they died, what happened to their bodies to end their lives. But their death was more than the body's response to violent trauma. We do not know how they got to that point. We do not know why they were moved from the site of the crash.
I am not interested in who did this to them. I want to know why.
[Years ago, she might have cared less, but this partnership with the FBI and all that has happened since-- it's changed her. It's made her see the world in different ways. Strictly speaking, her job stops at finding all the facts she just gave Maketh Tua, but there is more to this story, and it's important.]
[The information is relayed simply. All facts. The breaking of bones, organs punctured and pulped by the force of it. Old fractures, healed breaks, the kind of secrets that only x-rays are supposed to know. All of it laid bare in before her, a report memorized and recited.
They know Itani died on impact. They know Kareem didn't.
And then there are drawings. Kareem's eyes are wicked. Someone knew, someone guessed from his bones, that they'd be shining. That he laughed often.
He had green eyes, once.
Itani's face is softer than Maketh remembers. The curve of her chin made her look older than she was, but her cheeks were round still.
Maketh doesn't realize she's crying until it's too late to hide. She ducks her head, blinking furiously. This is unacceptable conduct. It doesn't get her anything. She didn't keep any pictures of the twins. All records were scrubbed. She hasn't said their names for years. And now this woman - this stranger - has come carrying their pictures, asking for the truth.
The truth.
Maketh shivers. She digs her nails into the palm of her hand until she draws blood. The sting helps. She comes back to herself.]
[This is what she came here for. This is why she is meeting with Maketh Tua.
Angela's work is always good, always as close to accurate as humanly possible. If nothing else, Brennan can always count on her drawings to provide her and Booth something to work off of. And while Brennan still believes in the rational approach first and foremost, she can't deny the emotional effect Angela's art has on people. This right now would have been impossible without her, and Brennan will be letting her know of that.]
Why did they want to leave?
[Booth had given her a number of reasons they might want that. He'd stressed the fact that this Academy was not federal military, but privately owned. Those two kids could've walked past a door or glanced through a window at the wrong time for a split second, he'd said. That could be enough for someone to want them dead.
I don't believe in God, or in absolutes. [She may follow the rules to the letter, but only if she doesn't disagree with them. If she disagrees, she is usually right.] Were they given an order they disagreed with? Did an instructor try to hurt them? Did they witness an instructor doing something improper? Anything you can tell me will help.
It does not matter what you believe. That was how it was.
[Maketh holds herself very still, forcing herself to look away from the pictures. She doesn't want to talk about this suddenly, she wants to go back to her cell and be alone. Away from this mess of digging up the past. It's not going to help anything.]
I do not know, Doctor Brennan. I did not ask.
[There were things one didn't ask in the Academy in those days. There are things one doesn't ask at all. Maketh feels her mouth twitch.]
I -- suspected. That an instructor hurt a member of their squadron. It happened sometimes.
[Brennan was only trying to point out how she could understand the need to defy, but she won't explain it. It's irrelevant.
She noticed how Maketh avoids the pictures and leaves them out on purpose. This is for them, not for Brennan and the FBI. It's about finding the truth and making sure this kind of tragedy doesn't happen again.]
When it happened, how did instructors document the incidents? [In their favor if at all, she thinks, but she cannot assume anything at this point.]
[Something isn't right here. Something that has Brennan squinting, and wouldn't that make Booth poke fun at her for being a squint through and through.]
In fact, you are the one being ridiculous. You are-- tense, you are performing confidence and superiority in a subtle attempt to intimidate me. I am under no obligation to procure library privileges for you, and neither is the FBI. Are you still afraid of the Academy after all this time?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2017-06-07 07:19 pm (UTC)Maketh feels her jaw twitch and fights down the urge to snap. She didn't hurt Kareem or Itani. She cared more for the two of them then she's cared for anyone since. But she doesn't say that. It's not helpful. She has to be strategic here. Play the game, soldier. And play to win.]
I already have a life sentence, Doctor Brennan. I spend the majority of my time in solitary confinement. If you do not provide an incentive to me right now, in this room, I will call the guards and that will be the last you see of me.
[It's said simply, all business.]
There's no one still living who knew Kareem or Itani. No one who'd talk with you, anyway.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-07 07:30 pm (UTC)I have a--- connection. A contact in the FBI. If you cooperate, I can talk with him about shortening your sentence, or at least moving you somewhere more comfortable. You would be free to discuss the particulars with him. I am just a forensic anthropologist. It is not within my power to make you an offer beyond this.
[Again, statements of facts. Nothing more, nothing less.] This could be your chance to atone. Or if you do not care about atonement, it could be your chance to get to somewhere better.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-07 07:34 pm (UTC)I'm not leaving this place. People with more power than you have seen to it.
[But she does want something, desperately. The trick is not letting on how much she'll give for it. Maketh twitches. Forces herself to sit up straighter.]
I want access to the library. Get that to me - in writing, Doctor - and I'll answer you questions.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-07 10:54 pm (UTC)[Another glance at the camera. They had better start working on this request.]
It might take some time -- paperwork usually does -- but this is a request I'm confident that it's within our power.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-07 11:40 pm (UTC)She fears going insane, in her quieter moments. The books will help. Give her something to do.]
That's bought you some answers, Doctor Brennan. Ask them.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-08 01:03 am (UTC)But yes. Questions. The Deols.]
Yes. [She glances at the case file again. Keep it simple. Not accurate.] Their injuries are consistent with a fall from a high altitude at a high velocity. The particulates on the victims' bones indicate the impact site was 110 kilometers from the site. The military base where all of you trained has a program for training pilots, yes? Are you trained in operating aircraft?
[Hodgins had posited that it was a spacecraft that they fell in, but that's just ridiculous.]
no subject
Date: 2017-06-08 02:13 am (UTC)[That hadn't been her place. Maketh watches Brennan closely. How much does she know, really? It seems like most of the records were scrubbed clean. The Deols had a family, once - a family full of officers carrying on the proud tradition - but they were all dead now. Long live the admiral and his tragic children. Aside from their names - and she'd needed clarification on even that - Doctor Brennan doesn't seem to know a great deal. Only things that their bodies would know. Nothing about Kareem or Itani as they were, as people. Maketh is probably the only person still alive who remembered them.
What a strange thought.]
They were.
[She keeps her face carefully empty. This woman isn't an ally of Maketh's. All she's bought is information.]
There was an experimental prototype they were training on. Dangerous in those days. They're called TIEs now. The model is stable. It was deemed too expensive to manufacture on an industrial scale. The Air Force didn't want anything to do with them.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-08 01:52 pm (UTC)My team places their death at eighteen to twenty years ago. They were young. [Perhaps they were test pilots. Perhaps they were made to be test pilots in order to be easily disposed of. Accidents during a testing phase are not exactly uncommon.] Is there anyone who would have had reason to kill them?
no subject
Date: 2017-06-08 02:27 pm (UTC)Maketh shrugs.]
A lot of people wanted them dead. I'm not giving you names, so I suggest that you refrain from asking.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-08 04:20 pm (UTC)[She does wish Booth or Sweets were here, though. They're both better at this.
Brennan takes a brrath and gathers her thoughts again. Remember the evidence, remember the findings thus far, remember what you're looking for.] What do you know about the flight that led to their death?
no subject
Date: 2017-06-08 04:35 pm (UTC)Probably something worth killing her over.
Not that she really has much to live for right now. At the very least, it will give her something to do if she plays it right.]
I know they were part of a training squad. Designation: Delta Squadron. Kareem was Delta Leader. Itani was Delta One.
[Training squadrons always have eight members. Maketh tips her head to the side. Doctor Bennan seems intelligent. She'll figure it out.]
And I know you haven't been able to track down the other six.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-09 12:27 am (UTC)[Booth knows these things. Military terminology and strategy and structure is his particular area of expertise.
They aren't getting much they don't already know. The information about the squadron name and their rank doesn't mean as much to Brennan as it would to Booth, but that's for later. The paperwork to fulfill Maketh Tua's request will give them a chance to meet again, perhaps. They will have another chance.
But right now, she needs to make better use of their time. Brennan watches Maketh Tua for a few seconds. Who is she, what is her story, what secrets lie written on her bones?
Bones. That's a good place to start.]
I am going to tell you everything I know about Kareem and Itani Deol based on my examination of their remains. [Because there is nothing to hide.
So she relates her findings: age, sex, place of origin, fractures and injuries suffered over their short lives, the height from which they fell, what the impact did to their bodies, ultimate cause of death. She reveals what Hodgins gleaned from particulate matter found on the bones: the location of the crash, the materials left on them by the wreckage, the plants that grew in the crash site.]
It is both a wealth of information and very little to work with. We did, however, obtain enough to have our artist create facial reconstructions of each of them.
[She finds the pages in the folder and sets them on the table in front of Maketh. Angela has drawn them with neutral features because they were military, but bright eyes because they were young.
Brennan allows Maketh to look at them in silence for a while before she continues.]
We know how they died, what happened to their bodies to end their lives. But their death was more than the body's response to violent trauma. We do not know how they got to that point. We do not know why they were moved from the site of the crash.
I am not interested in who did this to them. I want to know why.
[Years ago, she might have cared less, but this partnership with the FBI and all that has happened since-- it's changed her. It's made her see the world in different ways. Strictly speaking, her job stops at finding all the facts she just gave Maketh Tua, but there is more to this story, and it's important.]
cw for self harm
Date: 2017-06-09 02:22 am (UTC)They know Itani died on impact. They know Kareem didn't.
And then there are drawings. Kareem's eyes are wicked. Someone knew, someone guessed from his bones, that they'd be shining. That he laughed often.
He had green eyes, once.
Itani's face is softer than Maketh remembers. The curve of her chin made her look older than she was, but her cheeks were round still.
Maketh doesn't realize she's crying until it's too late to hide. She ducks her head, blinking furiously. This is unacceptable conduct. It doesn't get her anything. She didn't keep any pictures of the twins. All records were scrubbed. She hasn't said their names for years. And now this woman - this stranger - has come carrying their pictures, asking for the truth.
The truth.
Maketh shivers. She digs her nails into the palm of her hand until she draws blood. The sting helps. She comes back to herself.]
It....it is an. Accurate likeness.
[She doesn't look at Doctor Brennan.]
They tried to leave. That's why they died.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-09 10:55 pm (UTC)Angela's work is always good, always as close to accurate as humanly possible. If nothing else, Brennan can always count on her drawings to provide her and Booth something to work off of. And while Brennan still believes in the rational approach first and foremost, she can't deny the emotional effect Angela's art has on people. This right now would have been impossible without her, and Brennan will be letting her know of that.]
Why did they want to leave?
[Booth had given her a number of reasons they might want that. He'd stressed the fact that this Academy was not federal military, but privately owned. Those two kids could've walked past a door or glanced through a window at the wrong time for a split second, he'd said. That could be enough for someone to want them dead.
Or for them to want to run away.]
no subject
Date: 2017-06-11 02:16 am (UTC)An instructor did something. I don't -- they never told me.
[She shivers. Takes a breath.]
When you are a cadet, the instructors are God. You do not go against God, Doctor Brennan.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-12 04:38 pm (UTC)I don't believe in God, or in absolutes. [She may follow the rules to the letter, but only if she doesn't disagree with them. If she disagrees, she is usually right.] Were they given an order they disagreed with? Did an instructor try to hurt them? Did they witness an instructor doing something improper? Anything you can tell me will help.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-12 04:47 pm (UTC)[Maketh holds herself very still, forcing herself to look away from the pictures. She doesn't want to talk about this suddenly, she wants to go back to her cell and be alone. Away from this mess of digging up the past. It's not going to help anything.]
I do not know, Doctor Brennan. I did not ask.
[There were things one didn't ask in the Academy in those days. There are things one doesn't ask at all. Maketh feels her mouth twitch.]
I -- suspected. That an instructor hurt a member of their squadron. It happened sometimes.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-12 06:31 pm (UTC)She noticed how Maketh avoids the pictures and leaves them out on purpose. This is for them, not for Brennan and the FBI. It's about finding the truth and making sure this kind of tragedy doesn't happen again.]
When it happened, how did instructors document the incidents? [In their favor if at all, she thinks, but she cannot assume anything at this point.]
no subject
Date: 2017-06-13 12:09 am (UTC)[She keeps her voice perfectly even. Sit up straight, smile, everything is just perfectly fine.]
Most of those were not recorded. Not unless someone died.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-13 12:48 am (UTC)Are you afraid someone, Miss Tua? Of something?
no subject
Date: 2017-06-13 01:49 am (UTC)Of course not, Doctor Brennan. Don't be ridiculous.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-13 11:15 am (UTC)In fact, you are the one being ridiculous. You are-- tense, you are performing confidence and superiority in a subtle attempt to intimidate me. I am under no obligation to procure library privileges for you, and neither is the FBI. Are you still afraid of the Academy after all this time?
no subject
Date: 2017-06-13 03:48 pm (UTC)You bought answers. I sold them. But only a few. I am not afraid!
no subject
Date: 2017-06-13 04:09 pm (UTC)Now your posture and tone indicate you will not be moved. Why? I'm not interested in a pointless confrontation. What are you resisting?
no subject
Date: 2017-06-13 04:15 pm (UTC)Ask your questions, Doctor Brennan, and make them good, or that will be the end of it.
[Maketh doesn't have much leverage and she knows it, but she won't be pushed into a corner.]
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From: