Day In Office

Posted on Mon Jun 6th, 2011 @ 11:32am by Major Maxim Kamarov

Mission: The Ties That Bind
Location: Marine Command Center

MARINE COMMAND CENTER
0500

Maxim and SgtMaj Woodard strode into the MCC and found a facility in the final hour before alpha shift. The duty officer, Captain Smalls, was quickly putting together a report of the evening's activities. She looked over at the major and quickly snapped to attention, only to be waved back into her seat. "Relax, captain. I am not some infernal beast spawned form Hell that has come to eat you..."

"So he says!" quipped the sergeant-major.

"Quiet, you!" Kamarov barked. "What is our status?"

"97% nominal, major. All secure storage areas fully manned. Supplemental security force is at plus-30, and everyone else is just waking up for their morning PT." 0500 wake-up was normal for the standard 26-hour day Starfleet utilized. It took humans some time to adjust their circadian rhythms to match, and insanity happened in rare instances.

Woodard took a padd from the captain and read it, then smiled. "Guess what, major? You have the honor of teaching the cadets in the Academy all about survival!"

Kamarov swore hotly. "Chert vozmi ! I am not some proklyati school teacher, I am a Marine officer!."

"This says you have to show the students that survival in a life-and-death situation is more about mental preparation and conditioning than it is about physical endurance." Woodard read from the padd, enjoying his friend's discomfort.

"Complete fignya and you know it, Sar-Major!" Kamarov growled. "The children should be at least in their third year before I even see them!"

"Are you defying Admiral Wegener's orders?" Woodard asked, smirking as he laid a trap for his CO.

"Yebat' sebe, mudak!" Kamarov said, his tone ugly.

SgtMaj Woodard leaned over to Captain Smalls and smiled, "He's called me worse, ma'am! He just doesn't like the fact that I really run the show and make him look good!"

"Very well, captain. I relieve you," Kamarov said, saluting the younger woman. "Sergeant-Major, do you recall the survival course you went through at Syrtis City?"

"The one taught by that pompous ass Holbridge? Yeah, I do."

"He may have been an ass, but he knew his shit! I would have liked to have been there when he and that Lorenz character stole a Galor-class ship from under the Cardies' noses!" Kamarov said admiringly. "Think of it, a couple dozen half-starved, half-dead prisoners overpowered a couple Cardassians and stole a warship!"

"They had a SpecOps code-breaker with them, sir." Woodard said.

"The point is, that feat of bravery completely revolutionized the way we do business. I met the man a few years ago when I was back on Earth. Good pilot, and as I recall he was transferring to command school!"

"Would you ever want a guy like him on board, sir?"

"In a heartbeat, the man is a warrior!" Kamarov said admiringly.

"Getting back to the children, sir?"

"Have a recon platoon set up a survival scenario and we'll run the cadets through it after we give them what the need to know." Kamarov sighed. "Next!"

"We are having issues with our runabouts. The Puller's are not being released to their pilots."

Kamarov and Woodard entered Kamarov's office. "Why the hell not?" Maxim demanded.

"Flight Control insists that the pilots certify with them, sir."

Kamarov closed his eyes. "Tell our flight crews that they need to re-certify at the turn of every quarter cycle!" he said through gritted teeth.

"One final item, Master Chief Brooke is requesting an enlisted personnel review...."

"He can speak with you, Hanley!" Kamarov said. "I know he is CoS, but I think he has enough on his plate without butting into our affairs."

"What do you mean, sir?"

Kamarov held up a padd. "I read up on him last night. It seems he had some trouble with the Berkeley's chief of security. If the man hadn't been so blinded y his own sense of importance he would have known that guys like Quentin Harrison are not to be trifled with. But, he thought he needed to 'take him down a few pegs' and was damn near put into traction by the bigger man. I don't want that kind of nonsense happening between you and him, am I clear?"

"Yessir. How about I have a sit-down with him later today?"

"No, Natalya is making borscht tonight!" Kamarov grinned.

"I'm there, major!" Woodard grinned.


FIVE HOURS LATER
MESS HALL


Maxim liked replicators, but he insisted that his units have cooks who could prepare and serve food, citing Murphy's Law. So everyday, The Marines were fed 4 times a day serving line style. Maxim waited with his men, listened to their jokes, and occasionally offering a raucous comment or two as they waited for their food. When his turn finally came he selected the same food that his men ate, eschewing the traditional officer's fare. He quickly found a table with the men of Bravo Company, his Recon Platoon.

"H'lo, Major! Nice to see you here!" said a corporal.

"Glad to be here!" Maxim smiled as he dug into his pile of food.

"It's not everyday we see our CO eat with us," a Marine remarked.

"I make it a practice to eat with my troops twice a day. It may piss the ol' lady off, but you are just as important to me as she is." Max said as he buttered some bread.

"At least we don't have to live off that replicator swill anymore!" a burly corporal said loudly.

Maxim looked up, but said nothing. The men were entitled to their opinions.

"The sergeant-major has been driving us hard! But it's nothing we aren't used to! My daddy always said 'Nobody drowned in their own sweat!'"

Maxim smiled. The troops were not afraid to be themselves around him, another good sign. Max quickly finished his meal and headed out, back to the office

A post by

Major Maxim Kamarov
MARDET CO
Starbase900