From: V. Rahul Chandra (vrccan_at_gmail.com)
Date: Fri May 30 2008 - 04:23:54 PDT
=========== “The Chaos before the Storm” Continued from Erik’s “Operation Marathon” =========== Location: USS PATRIOT Stardate: 2424 [2.8] 0530.1853 Scene: Marine Deck “You obsess way too much over that rifle Major,” Josh Morris said, shaking his head and taking a look over at his immediate boss. “What are you doing anyway?” “Polishing it,” Daniel replied, not looking up from what he was doing. “Polishing it?!” Morris was incredulous. “So the rifle’s working fine?” “When I tested it about an hour ago,” Daniel replied. “The rifle was working perfectly.” Morris was about to reply, when he looked up and noticed Maverick and Sterling-Jade walk into the room. Following his gaze after the unexpected silence, Daniel noticed the pair as well and both marines got up as they approached the table. “I want you to draw up a drill schedule using these specifications,” Maverick said, handing over the holocrystal he’d received from the Captain just a few minutes ago. “Let me know when the drilling is ready to begin, but make sure that all the marines are involved.” “Yes sir,” Daniel replied with a slight inclination of his head. “Also, I want the marines split up into two teams along these lines,” Maverick said, handing a PADD over to the Major. “The first team will be led by myself, while the second will be under Lieutenant Jade.” Daniel, although surprised at that second request, merely took the PADD from the Colonel and then repeated his earlier affirmation of understanding. “I want drills ready to begin within the hour Major, so get started,” Mav ordered, before turning to Catherine. “If you’d join me for a moment Lieutenant…” without waiting for a reply, the marine was off to a brisk walk in the general direction of his office. After shooting a quick look in the direction of her surprised husband, Catherine followed suit. “What on EARTH was that about?” Morris asked, looking over Daniel’s shoulder at the closed door to the Marine Commanding Officer’s office. “I have no idea,” Daniel answered, taking a look at the PADD in front of him. “But if he wants drills to begin within the hour, it certainly can’t be good.” ============ Time Index: Simultaneously Location: EARTH (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) Scene: Gorman Residence Jeff walked into his parents’ house, knowing that the place would be empty. With the war on, both of his parents would be pulling lengthy tours of duty on the front lines, so he didn’t expect to see either of them for awhile. Clutched in his hands was a box of various items that he’d chosen to transfer from the PATRIOT, just in case something happened to the ship during the next mission. He personally had no experience with which to gauge the relative success probability of the mission, but he decided that it was better to be safe than sorry. “Daddy!” Jeff froze in his tracks as the completely recognizable, yet unexpected voice of his eldest daughter punctuated the silence of the house. A few moments later, the young girl had hurled herself into his arms, hugging him tightly to her. Still confused at the current turn of events, Jeff placed the box on a nearby table before hugging her back. Looking up, he saw the approaching figure of his father-in-law and expectantly looked at him for an answer. “Did you get Kat’s message?” his wife’s father asked. “Do I look like someone that expected to see what just happened?” Jeff asked in return, leaning down to look at his daughter. “Ely darling, how about you go play in your room and give me and Grandpa a chance to talk things over?” “You promise to come play with me later?” the young hybrid demanded. “Of course,” Jeff replied with a smile, standing up and watching his daughter run into the room before turning back to his father-in-law. “With all of the repairs that the PATRIOT was undergoing, I didn’t really get a chance to check my messages,” he told him. “Well,” Geoff, his father-in-law, replied. “Now’s as good a time as any.” “I guess so,” Gorman agreed, walking over to the terminal and punching in his access code. He listened to the message his wife had left for him without comment, before turning back to his father-in-law. “Do you know where she is?” Gorman demanded. “No,” Geoffrey replied. The PATRIOT’s Executive Officer thought he detected a note of hesitation in the man’s voice as he answered, although he had no way of knowing if it was really there or imagined. “Well,” Gorman answered, rubbing the back of his head. “I could get angry, but I get the feeling that wouldn’t accomplish a lot.” “Probably not,” Geoffrey agreed. “Is there room for the children on the PATRIOT?” “Not for the current mission,” Jeff admitted. “And probably not as long as the war’s going on. The flagship of the Federation is a juicy target for the Dominion and I wouldn’t want to endanger the children’s lives by having them on the ship.” He sighed, leaning back against the table. “The timing of this is terrible,” he said. “The PATRIOT’s about to leave orbit and I have no idea when she’ll be back to EARTH.” “How long do you have?” Jeff glanced at the wall chronometer. “About thirty minutes,” he said. “Then I need to be on the bridge of the PATRIOT, ready to leave.” His father-in-law exhaled loudly. “That doesn’t give us a lot of time,” he said. “There’s a lot we need to talk about, but it’s not a conversation we can have in thirty minutes.” “I gathered that much,” Gorman replied, shaking his head. “Can you look after the kids for awhile longer, until I get back? When I do, I promise I’ll make arrangements that are more permanent for them, even if that means bringing them on the PATRIOT in the middle of a war.” “You know I have no problem looking after the children,” his father-in-law answered. “As long as you need me to.” Jeff sighed and for the first time during the conversation, he smiled. “Thanks Geoff,” he said, shaking the older man’s hand. “Well, I’m going to spend as much time with them as I can before the PATRIOT leaves.” ======== NRPG: Just taking care of some things that have been floating around for the last week and a half. My next post will be more mission orientated. ======== Rahul Chandra <vrccan_at_gmail.com> Playing… Lieutenant Commander Jeffrey Gorman, MD Executive Officer USS PATRIOT & Major Daniel Clarkson, MD Marine Executive Officer USS PATRIOT No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.24.3/1472 - Release Date: 29/05/2008 7:27 AM From HyperNews_at_youth.net
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