There's No Room In The Corps for Sleep
Posted on Sat Apr 9th, 2016 @ 12:55pm by Major David Lorenz & Sergeant Dalton Thomas
Edited on on Sat Apr 16th, 2016 @ 11:31pm
Mission: Beyond The Wormhole
Things in the Marine Barracks were finally settling down. Wounds had been licked, magazines reloaded, and people got on with their lives. Major Lorenz was pleased at how quickly the regiment pulled together after suffering such a significant loss. Well, almost all the Marines in the regiment.
Quentin Harrison stormed into Lorenz’s office, his eyes ablaze. “Those damned arseholes in 5th/27th are at it again!” 5th Platoon of Company 27 was where Lorenz had sent Corporal Dalton Thomas, the only Marine survivor of the Borg rescue mission, after his previous squad-mates had tried in earnest to shove the corporal’s head into a live EPS conduit. Thomas’ new unit Marines had begun deviling him the moment he arrived.
“What did they do this time?” sighed Lorenz, taking the padd from his fuming XO and scanning the report.
“They glued the poor sod to his bunk in naught but his skivvies!” Harrison snarled through gritted teeth.
Lorenz slammed the padd onto his desk. “I have had enough of this bullshit! Get Thomas in here!”
“As soon as he gets his backside treated!” Harrison snorted, then exited the office.
Lorenz stayed in his seat and steepled his fingers. I can’t keep this guy in this regiment, but I’m not gonna foist him off on some other CO, either. Lorenz picked up another padd detailing Quentin’s pans for a Borg Rapid Response Force. It was a well-thought out concept that David had eagerly endorsed. The plan was simple, force composition would be Recon Marines, plus any officer, including the Fleet pukes, that had experience fighting, or was assimilated by the Borg and rescued. Security Chief Zeferino was crazy about the idea as well and David was expecting her endorsement to come through at any time.
Why not kill two birds with one phaser blast, Dave thought to himself as he considered Thomas’ record. Before his assimilation, he was a top-notch Marine in Recon, earning high marks from Harrison and his previous CO’s. The guy needs a break from the hazing, and it will send a message to the dogfaces, too! “Doyle! Get your ass in here!”
“You rang, O Top Of The Heap?” Chief Doyle said airily as he breezed into the office.
“I want a promotion order on Thomas done in ten minutes. He makes buck sergeant, effective immediately.” Lorenz said in a dangerously neutral voice.
Doyle nodded his head for a moment, then grinned. “If I may ask, why the sudden kick in the pants, sir?”
“Since you think you need to know, I’ll tell you. Captain Harrison’s Borg Rapid Response Force will be made up of NCO’s and officers, grade E-5 on up. I want Thomas on this team because he has firsthand knowledge of how the Borg collective thinks and operates. He can come up with tactics and useful strategies in dealing with the Borg, not useless bullshit based on computer simulations.” It was well known in the regimental offices that Lorenz cordially hated simulators, logging the bare minimum of time in them. If anyone asked why, they were quickly shown the major’s extensive field experience.
Doyle nodded in agreement. “I’ll get right on it, sir!”
After Doyle vanished, Lorenz called up the 5/27th’s command cadre list. “Lieutenant Weinberg, Sergeant T’Kola, and Chief Kruger, report to my office immediately!”
TEN MINUTES LATER
The Three summoned Marines stood at stiff attention before David Lorenz’s desk. Lorenz was seated, and Captain Harrison and the soon-to-be-promoted Corporal Dalton Thomas stood on either side of his chair. Lorenz and Harrison’s facial expressions were carefully neutral while Thomas allowed his scarred face to show the bitterness and antipathy he felt.
Lorenz began the impromptu meeting. “When I became an officer in this man’s Corps, I swore an oath to lead my troops into battle and make damned sure they were ready for anything the enemy could throw at them. Granted, a Marine Corps squad is a little rougher than your basic pansy-ass Starfleet formation,” Lorenz’s voice began to yell, “BUT WHERE IN THE BLUE FUCK DOES IT SAY ‘CONSTANT TORTURE OF A FELLOW MARINE IS ALLOWED’?!?! I transferred Corporal Thomas to your unit because I figured you and your cadre staff would follow my explicit fucking orders and give this man a clean, fresh start! Was I wrong in assuming you could follow my orders, lieutenant?”
“Sir, no sir!”
“Then explain to me why corporal Thomas was found glued to his bunk in his underwear!”
“This should be fascinating, to be sure!” Harrison growled.
“Sir, I gave my men specific orders that Corporal Thomas was here to be a Marine, and that in no way was he responsible for the death of the station’s second officer. I was unaware of my troops activities and interactions with Thomas until I received the medical report on him at 0630 hours after unit PT was concluded.”
Lorenz seemed to be satisfied with the reply and focused his wrath on the NCOs present. “Sergeant T’Kola, let’s hear your pathetic excuses!”
T’Kola was a female Vulcan Marine, one of the very few in the Corps. “Major, I was not aware of the activities of my troops until this morning when I encountered Corporal Thomas glued to his bunk. I summoned the medics and assisted with first aid, escorting Thomas to our infirmary. I issued orders that Thomas was to be integrated into our unit as a rifleman and heavy phaser cannon operator. I echoed Lieutenant Weinberg’s orders and I am aware of the lieutenant’s standing orders against excessive hazing of new Marines. I know that some hazing will occur, but both the lieutenant and I feel that too much cruelty is counter-productive and will ultimately defeat the overall purpose of training and mission of this unit, sir!”
Lorenz nodded, noting T’Kola’s covering of her officers ass. “Nevertheless, it would seem that your men are disregarding orders, wouldn’t you say, Weinberg?”
“It would appear that way, sir! I take full..”
“Don’t fall on your sword yet, lad!” Harrison held up a hand to cut him off. “Let’s hear what the squad leader has to say.
Chief Warrant Officer Anita Kruger nervously cleared her throat. “If you are asking whether or not I gave the order to glue that killer to his bed, I did. I may have him in my squad, but I’ll be dammed if I will allow him to …”
“THAT IS ENOUGH!” Lorenz thundered, his voice shaking the room. “I will not allow anyone under my command to act as unit disciplinarian other than him! ” Lorenz pointed to Harrison, who was still scowling mightily. “Chief Kruger, you are a disgrace to this unit and your uniform. You are relieved of your duties and confined to your quarters pending a JAG hearing on your future as a Marine. Captain, I want a full report of this incident forwarded to Lt Benson in Fleet JAG before turn of the watch, including recommendations of any and all disciplinary possibilities, including dishonorable discharge. Get out of my sight!”
Kruger gave Thomas a dirty look before leaving the room. When the woman was gone, Lorenz looked at T’Kola and Weinberg. “At ease, Marines,” Lorenz said gently, relaxing the tension in the room. “I hope, lieutenant, that this has been instructive?”
“Yessir, I need to keep a closer….”
“Negative, sonny!” Harrison cut the boy off. “Ye cannae sit on yer lads 24/7, ye have to trust those beneath ye to do their bloody jobs, and if they cannae do what they should, eighty-six them.”
Sgt T’Kola nodded. “I quite agree with the captain’s assessment. Unit morale is affected by officers and NCOs who do not care for their charges.”
Harrison gave a polite nod to the sergeant.
“Now, for one last bit of business. Corporal Dalton Thomas, front and center!” Lorenz ordered. When the corporal had moved himself to stand in front of him, Lorenz continued. “You are hereby promoted to the rank of sergeant.” Lorenz said simply, fastening the triple-chevroned E-5 insignia to his collar. “In addition, I am assigning you to the Borg Rapid Response Force project under the command of Captain Harrison. I know he looks dumb, but he’s really a bright officer, but I need someone who can keep him honest and I believe that man is you. Carry on, sergeant!”
A polite round of applause erupted from the assembled Marines. Thomas could not wipe the grin from his face. He looked at Lorenz and said, “Thank you, major, for everything.”
“I believe the captain has work for you to do, sarge; and just between you and me, he’s a bit of a slave-driver!” Lorenz grinned at his newest NCO. “Keep him in line for me!”
“Will do, sir!”
SIX HOURS LATER
The crowd of Marines from his office was gone, and Dave took off his officers coat and laid it across the back of his sofa, then stretched out on the sofa with a soft groan. He was getting older, but he wasn’t all battler-scarred and useless yet. He needed a few minutes to relax.
“Major Lorenz,” the voice of the automated Duty Officer broke in. There is a priority-one message for you from Lt. James Holbridge.”
Lorenz sat bolt upright on the sofa. “Play message. Authenticator Lorenz Alpha-Alpha-Charlie-one-seven.”
The holographic viewer snapped on. “Dave, it’s me, don’t ask me why, but I stumbled onto something big. I can’t say what’s going on yet. I need you to get in contact with Li Hawke, Admiral Lucius, or anybody that will listen and give them the information I have encoded into this message. You’re the only one who knows the access code, shipmate. I am at Wayne Manor in the Batcave with KGBeast, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Red Robin until I hear from you. This is hot! You will need lots of yamok sauce for this one. Holbridge out!”
Lorenz sat stunned. His friend has just told him that he had been captured and escaped from an unknown Cardassian base and was possibly being hunted by them. The team had escaped and was in hiding at the summer residence of his mother until the information he’d coded into the transmission was forwarded to someone in Intelligence.
Lorenz transferred the message to his workstation and had the embedded, encrypted files decoded in a manner of minutes. “Holy Jumpin Jesus!” he swore softly as he looked over the information. “Lorenz to Chief Doyle, go secure!”
=/\=Go ahead, major=/\= Doyle replied, all business.
“I need Admiral Hawke and Commander Zeferino to review this file I am sending you. Hand delivery to both parties, please.” Lorenz said, rising to his feet. “So much for my nap," he groused.
A POST BY:
Major David Lorenz
Whip Cracker
