Her intended mark came as a bit of a shock and served to bristle his ego. On board the Strahl had been pirates and thieves. Rebels with a long ans auspicious history of slighting Shinra. Out of them all, she picked the unassuming doe-eyed girl! The appropriate reaction should be something along the lines of relief, only instead he was left to wonder what was so special about this Garnet til Alexandros. Fran either did not know or would not share the full story, and it was her right to withhold certain information. Yet as captain he also felt entitled to any information that could jeopardize his ship or his crew.
Perhaps the Shinra operative would be able to shed some light on the mysterious little issue. A Turk would have already threatened him, and most thick-headed soliders liked to fight first and ask questions later. This woman appeared sane and level headed, he would give her that. Balthier was hopeful she could be reasoned with. "Currently she is occupied elsewhere," it was the truth. His tone and body language were a testament to that fact. "And I find it odd that your benefactors would so doggedly seek one young lady. Might I ask what her crime is?" then he noticed it: the faint and inhuman glow of her eyes. Injecting mako into soldiers was a process only whispered about before his departure from Shinra. Most who underwent the treatments proved the side-effects to be fatal. Obviously, they must have fine-tuned their methods in recent years. "Embezzlement, perhaps. Making off with some trifle bit of company property. Or is she yet another science experiment, like yourself?"