First Impressions

Posted on 29 May 2016 @ 10:43pm by Lieutenant Colonel Cassandra Blackburn & Sergeant Major William Bourne

993 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Errand of Mercy
Location: Flight Deck, Starship Redemption
Timeline: ED3

ON:

Cassandra Blackburn felt stiff and uncomfortable in her uniform tunic. She had made a reasonable effort to look the part, but after months of neglect her hair had been undisciplined and along with spending a night replaying her run in with Jon Marshall in her head the result was that she was late when she arrived at the flight deck. Sergeant Major Bourne was waiting for her.

Bourne saluted her. She replied in kind. "Rude to keep the troops waiting." He grunted.

"They'll live." She said, pushing her service cap onto her head, trying to catch a few rouge hairs. Her mind was still with Marshall. "Let's get on with it."

They entered the flight deck. It hadn't changed much since she was last there. Separate from the shuttle bay, the flight deck housed the Marines organic air component - Valkyrie fighters and Havoc dropships. It was two decks high and enormous in size, with large space doors at one end and a control deck at the other - and aside from a small formation of Marines in the middle - it was empty.

"Deck, atten-shun!" Shouted Bourne. The Marines sprung together as one. An officer was stood in front - Lieutenant Roberts. He saluted her, and Blackburn returned the salute. "Battalion ready for inspection, Ma'am" He barked. She didn't acknowledge him but looked past him at the Marines, smart as buttons, paraded behind him. She turned to Bourne stood behind her, before turning to Roberts again. The silence was becoming awkward - she was not doing what protocol dictated she should.

"Come with me" She said to Roberts, indicating with her hand for Bourne to follow her too. Roberts opened his mouth, not sure what to do - she was supposed to be inspecting the ranks by now, like in every inspection parade he had ever done, not dragging him off to the side. The change in routine unsettled him. "Come on!" She said again. They both followed her to the side of the squad of Marines, who remained stood to attention as if nothing was happening in front of them.

Once out of their line of sight and far enough so their quiet conversation couldn't be heard, she rounded on them.

"Where the hell is everybody?" She said quickly.

"Ma'am?" Said Roberts, confused.

"There can't be more than thirty out there. Where's the rest of the battalion?" Roberts glanced at Bourne, not sure what to say. Bourne stepped up.

"There isn't any more." He growled. "Starfleet ordered our departure before the line companies arrived. They’re still on Luna." He grunted again. "You'd know that if you had read the ORBAT I sent you. Ma'am."

"Well, what do we have?" She asked, ignoring the Sergeant Major's obvious disdain for her lack of organisation.

"Communications, medics, and my electronic warfare section." Replied Roberts, hitting a note of pride when talking about his own unit.

Blackburn brought him crashing back down to the deck. "Are you serious?" She said harshly. "Out of a battalion scaled for three hundred, all we have are a couple of medics, a few comms ops and a handful of computer geeks?"

"Ma'am!" Roberts protested, aghast, glancing back to see if he had been heard. "My people are highly trained technical specialists! Best in their fiel-" Blackburn cut him off.

"Can they pull a trigger?" She asked him.

"Well they completed basic training before moving onto-" Roberts started, before Blackburn interrupted him again.

"Well, now they're line infantry. What about the air wing?" She asked, glancing at two Valkyrie fighters and a single, old looking Havoc drop ship. She dismissed Roberts' look of abject horror. She knew the answer before it came.

"That's it. Ma'am." Bourne answered.

"Officers?"

"Just me at the minute" Roberts said, recovering himself. He paused, thinking. "And, uh, of course you, Ma'am. I guess Major Afton counts too, but then again I guess she's not with the detachment..." He trailed off when he noticed Blackburn wasn't paying him any attention.

She sighed. "Well, I hope we're not needed on this one." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Come on, let's get it over with." She said, walking towards the Marines.

The lack of numbers meant the inspection was over quickly. They were everything that she expected them to be - young, keen, highly polished, and green. Her speech had been short and weak - she introduced herself and basically told them to try not to die. She felt Bourne's disapproval but then a wave a relief when it was over - she left the flight deck and started to make her way to her quarters.

As she walked her mind turned back to Jon Marshall. That he represented the single biggest threat to both her and the ship was obvious – but she was not sure how to proceed. She didn’t know who to trust and she had no doubt the threats he had made to her regarding her family were genuine, even if she hadn’t spoken to them for the best part of a year. For people like Marshall, the ends always justified the means. The threat meant she didn’t dare go to the Captain – at least, not right away. Besides, he must know Marshall was on board, surely?

She stopped at a viewport, crew members walking past her in the busy corridor. She looked out into space, seeing the stars flying past at unbelievable speed, and caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the glass. There was one person she was aware of that she could speak to safely about it, at least, because he would be in exactly the same position with Marshall as she was – Rhyan. It made her angry just to think of his name, but she realised that now she had few options but to speak to the first officer.

She approached a nearby computer terminal and requested Rhyan’s location from it.

OFF

 

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