"What happens in marine country..."

Posted on 28 Nov 2015 @ 1:00pm by Major Richard Sharpe

848 words; about a 4 minute read

[i]"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." - Ronald Reagan, President of the United States; 1985[/i]

Waking up in the darkened room, it took Richard a few moments to allow his mind to work out what was going on. Once he'd registered that he was in fact awake, he rolled to the edge of the bed and sat on the edge - rubbing the remaining sleep from his eyes. "Computer, lights." He instructed. Within a half second, the lights in the room raised to standard lighting levels, allowing the marine to walk from his bed to the 'fresher on the other side of the bedroom.

He splashed water on his face and looked at the haggered face before him. He was only thirty years old, but he'd seen a lifetime of pain and suffering - yet he knew he had so much more left to see and experience. He was but a third of the way through his career, and whilst ambition in a marine was laudable, he craved to advance. Being honest with himself, he'd always thought he'd cap out at Captain, so earning Major was a considerable boon to his self-ego.

There were dark moments, when his inner troubles would haunt him, and he knew that they must not control him. He knew he had to learn from the mistakes of youth, because that was what they were - the mistakes of a misguided youthful junior officer. He would never again make those mistakes, and because of that - those young men and women who'd died under his command would never be forgotten. Indeed, Sharpe had a picture of his former Recon squad on his desk to forever remind him the cost of patience and experience. Those twelve men and women would forever haunt his soul - but from their haunting he would draw the strength to make their deaths mean something. He could never roll over and quit now, he had to go on, push himself - for them, for the futures they were denied.

Moving back into the bedroom, he quickly changed out of his sleeping clothes and jumped into the sonic shower to blast the last of sleep from his body - as well as feel refreshed. Dressing in his standard Starfleet uniform, with the green colourings of the marine corps, his rank on his right chest, comm badge on the left. He checked himself in the full length mirror before stepping out of his quarters to begin his day. Ship time - 0545.

Sharpe arrived at his office at 0550, and was greeted by his orderly, Corporal Zara Young. She had a warm and welcoming smile when she handed her CO his warm and welcoming mug of coffee. "Good Morning sir, did you sleep well?"

"Well enough for military work." He sighed, accepting the coffee gratefully, smelling the rich aromas of the coffee beans and feeling the warmth in his hands. "Anything exciting on the docket today, Zara?"

"Well, you're scheduled for an inspection of C Company at 1000 hours. Apparently, Captain Lowe has made some considerable improvements there, and he's keen to impress you." Cpl Young explained. This earned a harumph from her Major.

"He's only been a company commander for two weeks, I'm not expecting miracles." He replied to that. "But, if he feels he needs to validate himself to me, I'll indulge him - a little."

Moving on, Young explained that the rest of his day was somewhat open, to allow him to catch up on the paperwork that had accumulated after his two day absence from his office to earn his proficiencies in the new weaponry brought aboard when they left. "Oh, there was one other thing - Commodore Da'nal has called for the court-martial of a Lieutenant Vonti, and you've been summoned as a panel member."

Richard looked up from his coffee at that. "Well, you might have lead with that." He chastised the pretty blonde.

"I thought you might like to ingest some coffee before I told you that you'll be spending the next few days listening to lawyers prattle on, sir." Zara smirked knowingly.

Richard muttered and nodded. "You're getting dangerously close to knowing me too damn well, Corporal."

"Its my job to anticipate your needs and desires, Major." She replied, smartly.

That caused an eyebrow to raise on the amused face of Sharpe. "Careful there, Young. You're also describing a spouse."

Zara's face flushed deep red at that reference, she muddled with her PADD and excused herself from the room quickly. Richard chuckled then frowned. "Good going Sharpie, you just embarrassed the only aide who does any work."

Looking at the stack of PADDs to his left, and then noticing his grade A uniform hanging in the corner, he sighed. He really didn't want to be part of some damn fools court-martial, but when you're on a ship of the line - these things happened.

So much for his nice day...

- End -

Major Richard Sharpe
Marine CO
USS Achilles

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