A meeting of minds

Posted on 24 Apr 2020 @ 6:56am by Lieutenant Jason Mitchell
Edited on on 30 Apr 2022 @ 3:25am

843 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: M-17: Blood Moon Rising
Location: TBD

Jim waited at the table in the lounge sure he'd be able to recognize the officer he waited for on site. After all, there weren't that many on the ship that wore green uniforms. Which would tend to make him stick out a bit. After the meeting with the captain about bolstering security with Marine forces, Jim was glad to receive the request for a meeting from the MCO. Hopefully things could get off on the right foot on this ship and the two departments work together as they should. To that end, he had a few ideas and, he was sure, the MCO would have some as well.

At least, that's what he suspected the meeting was about. He'd check and currently no Marine personnel was in the brig - or in the station's brig. So it couldn't be a cajoling to release some hotheaded enlisted with promises of how the problem would be "taken care of".

Sitting back, Jim kept an eye on the door while scouring through his PaDD for reports and personnel records. He'd gone through the security department, now he was on the Marines.

It took Jason a few moments longer than expected to find the lounge, as he was not often in this part of the ship. The green uniform definitely had him sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the sea of red, though his movements were with a similar purpose and energy.

Finally locating the right door, Jason took a moment to square his uniform back to inspection-ready. The last Security officer and himself had never really seen eye to eye, so there was hope this one could be different as he had taken a few moments to review the public record of one Lieutenant James Barnes. Stepping into the room, he stopped a respectful distance before spotting the man sitting. "Lieutenant Barnes?" Came out in a calm, confident, moderately deep tone.

"Lieutenant Mitchell?" Jim said as he stood to greet the MCO. He sensed the hesitancy in the other officer and wondered what that was about. Well, he was sure they'd get to that as soon as possible. "Please join me," he said indicating the other chair. "There's a few things the Captain would like for us to work out."

'Well, so far he's not being hostile. Good start.' Jason thought to himself as he acknowledged the request by moving to the chair. Being the junior officer, he would naturally wait until James sat and then follow suit. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Yes, the Captain did...briefly mention an attempt to revive the cooperative efforts between our departments." He'd hold back the comment about the last attempt being a fiasco, new Chief, new start.

"Something wrong with the chair, Lieutenant?" Barnes asked, glancing down at it with an affected look of mild curiosity.

That comment brought a slight smile to Jason's face, and he sat. "No, just that your predecessor was a little more...formal, insisted on the traditional customs being followed, Lieutenant." So far, this officer was proving to be a much different type, and the possibility of being able to work with him just moved from 'tolerable' to 'likely' in Jason's mind.

"Ah," Jim said with a flash of understanding. "Let me guess "Me security, you Marine...me save ship, you stay away"? type of person? Someone difficult to work with?" He waved over the waiter to order drinks, maybe something to eat. That would be on his Marine companion. "Understandable that you'd have reservations. I can be difficult to work with myself but not because i'm afraid of Marines helping out. Mostly because, at times, I can just be an ass. So the question becomes - you willing to work with a sometimes ass if it means giving your grunts something to do on a more regular basis?"

Jason half smiled at the self-description Jim provided, and relaxed a noticeable amount in the chair. "All due respect your rank, but having grown up with the Corps, and on training sites no less, I doubt you can be as much of as ass as some of them. To answer your question more directly, Absolutely. " Food was the last thing on his mind right now, but something to drink was higher on the list of priorities, and he placed an order for his usual sweet iced tea.

"I will endeavor to not take your lack of faith in my abilities to be a challenge, Lieutenant," Jim said with a smile. "It will take quite a bit of willpower on my part but, well, I will give it the ol'Academy try. However, as for the matter at hand. I'll make up a shift rota that will have security patrolling with your Marines. There will be some training they'll need to complete as well - laws of arrest, enforcing laws, less lethal tactics, arrest control...those kinds of things. Of course, I'll hope some training flows back toward my people. In order to make us better in the 'pew pew pew' side of things."

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