Heart to Heart

Posted on 29 Jan 2013 @ 1:27pm by Marine Captain Ray Fernandez (Ret.)
Edited on on 31 Jan 2013 @ 3:43am

4,043 words; about a 20 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo Deck 3- Stone's Quarters
Timeline: MD 02 2300 HRS

ON:

Ray yawned, having spent the last day or so aboard the Galileo , he had been able to get a feel for the majority of the crew. After having spoken to Kiwosk, it was pretty clear that people were not in the best of moods with their Head of Security. Cyrus hadn't asked Ray to talk with him, but he figured it was his civic duty to see what made the man tick himself. Snatching up his cane he decided that he would take a walk down the corridor. Stone wasn't too far from his quarters anyways.

He pressed the chime.

"Lieutenant Stone...This is Col...er, Captain Fernandez. You mind if I pop in for a bit? I'd like to talk."

Jeremy was still unsettled from trying to sleep and failing. He suspected it might have something to do with 'sensitivity training' - again. He moved to the replicator, hoping that maybe a second glass of milk would help put him out again when the chime sounded. He glared at the door.

Fernandez? What the hell does he want? Jeremy asked himself. He went to the door, aware that - once again - he was obtaining visitors to his quarters when he was out of uniform. He threw on his sweatshirt and pulled Sidi back as he went and opened the door.

"Yes," he said, answering Fernandez's request, "I do mind."

"Well get over it, I'd like to talk to you, about training things and get to know you. I'll be here for a while so I might as well get to know the people I'm going to be working with. Besides, Kiwosk was talking to me about you." He older Marine yawned. "Is that the dog I see in there? He held his cane up and smiled. "Think he'd like a chew?"

Jeremy grabbed Sidi by the harness to keep him from rushing out of the quarters after the man's stick. Last thing he needed was for Sidi to be accused of stealing a mobility assistance device from a handicapped person.

"I have office hours," Jeremy said, scowling. "Except, it's more like Bridge hours, now that we're underway." He sighed. He couldn't very well ignore his duties on the bridge to engage in a private conversation. He considered.

"The Mess Hall is down the corridor. We can go there. Just..." he scowled again. "Just wait here." Jeremy closed the door and went to the bedroom to change into his uniform. It took five minutes as he also replicated another pack of beef treats for Sidi and put him on his lead. Come to think of it, he grabbed the bags and stuffed them into his pocket.

Opening the door again, "I've changed my mind, Sidi would probably prefer to be let out to run. We'll go to the arboretum instead."

"Whatever you prefer, son. I don't mind. Need to get out anyways. Don't mind the pup, if he wants to chew on the stick I can get around without it, it's more for the look than anything." Ray waved the stick side to side in front of Sidi's face and chuckled. "Tell you what boy, once we get to the tree room, we'll play some fetch, you, me , and your master. Does that sound good to you?"

Sidi perked at the waving stick, his ears pricked forwad and tail wagging slightly. He looked at Alpha asking for permission to play with the stick. He wondered what he would have to do to get that reward.

"I am not his 'master'," Jeremy said, the number of conversations reducing Sidi to a mere thing still running through his head. "He is not a slave or an object."

Ray looked up and coughed into his large forearm. "You know that Cyrus thinks highly of you." Fernandez stated. "Though the rest of the crew seems to have other thoughts on that. I'm guessin' you had a bit of a rough start?" Ray asked.

Jeremy turned to face the turbolift doors while he processed what Fernandez said about Cyrus. While it sounded nice, Jeremy also knew of the technique of flattery to modify thoughts in others. "I despise guessing, Major, but in this case you would be supported by evidence."

The doors opened and Jeremy held Sidi back to allow Fernandez room to exit.

Grumpy...bah I've met worse Ray chuckled as he thought of Scotto. " Not a Major anymore unfortunately, I was a Lieutenant Colonel at the peak of everything, but I was getting too old for my field of work, I was given the option of teaching and still serving the Federation or end up dying for a cause that has long since been won. I voluntarily took a double demotion and decided that I would spend the rest of my career in a teaching position." He looked forward and smiled. "I'd love to keep doing the work I was doing, keeping the Federation safe, but I'm old for a Marine, my body isn't what it once was, and I found myself running on too many stimulants in order to keep the same pace as my younger troops. I knew that I would be better off teaching the new ones what I know to keep them safe, prevent them from suffering the fates of so many others." He looked back to Stone and shrugged. "Yet, I seem to be pulled back to Starships from time to time, never fails."

"Starfleet operates under Naval tradition," Jeremy said, "We can only have one 'captain' aboard a starship." He opened the way into the arboretum for the small group. "Computer, other than Lt. Stone, Captain Fernandez and Security Canine Sidi, who is in the arboretum?"

==^==There is no one else located in the arboretum==^==

"Seal the doors, notification before entry," Jeremy said as he released Sidi. The dog took off across the grass, happily barking as he made a straight beeline toward the pond and the sleeping ducks.

"To answer your statement, no I'm not really guessing. " He glanced over with his fake eye, and scratched the base of his scar. "I've heard the rumors. Wild and crazy, but I can gather the truth out of them. So I'll be straight forward with you Lieutenant. You're having trouble with your Department and having them work under you?" He kept walking, his cane making a dull thud against the floor. "And don't try to quote regulations at me about policy and all that crap, because that's just an easy way out. I want to work with you Lieutenant, not against you."

"No," Jeremy said. "I am not having a problem with them working under me. They will either conform to standards or they will not. If they do not, they will leave - voluntarily or involuntarily." he scowled in the darkness as he watched the darker patch that was Sidi running through the pond. As long as he didn't drink the water, he should be okay. Though it will also mean Jeremy would need to give him another bath. He didn't look forward to that chore. Last time he believed he got more wet than Sidi did.

"I keep hearing flak about this being a science vessel. That's a copout. No matter the primary function of the Galileo it is first and foremost a Starfleet vessel. If these people want to have it be" he shuddered again " loosey-goosey and have it be one big, intoxicant fueled party, there are plenty of private research vessels they could go work on. However, they choose to become members of Starfleet and that carries with it duties and responsibilities."

He directed them down the path toward the park bench, out of courtesy for the Captain's infirmities.

Ray noted their path and guffawed loudly. "If I need to sit down I'll let you know. " Ray flipped his stick up in one hand and let it loose into the pond. "Go get it Sid!"

"His name is Sidi," Jeremy said as he watched the dog.

Sidi turned at the splash and stared at the stick. He turned to Alpha then back at the stick. Alpha gave the command and Sidi burst forth, enjoying the short run and then SWIM!! Swim swim swim!!! The fakepond was small and not deep and cool and fun and swimming annoyed silly ducks and they quacked and scolded him but Sidi laughed at silly ducks! Stick-man didn't throw stick very far and Sidi got to it too quickly, grabbing it in his teeth - sharp teeth FANGS! and then did a wide turn, making it so he SWIM SWIM SWIM! more swim! more swim! RUN! Alpha was happy and Sidi danced and bit deep as Alpha tried to take the stick. Sidi knew this game. This was play! PLAY! He happy-growled as he tugged on the stick to keep it from Alpha.

Jeremy finally gave the out command and Sidi released the stick, sitting as he watched the stick, hoping for it to be thrown again. Jeremy handed it back to Fernandez. Run! Jeremy commanded, waiting to see if Sidi needed to void.

Stretching his sore leg he faced the Chief. "You're absolutely right Lieutenant. It shouldn't matter if this were a Nova, a Nebular or a Soverigien class battle cruiser. The staff should be conducted with the same quality that makes Starfleet, well...Starfleet." He continued to walk beside the Lieutenant. "But saying that you don't have a problem with your staff, that's a little bit of willful ignorance don't you think?" Ray yawned and cracked his neck loudly. "In all my years of service, the hardest thing that I ever had to do was bring a work ethic into a department. Security especially, because they are the face of Starfleet. " He looked away from the Lieutenant. "We learn in battle school that there are three miltarized extensions to the Federation, the face, the arm and the mind. Marines are the arm of the Federation. Intelligence, the mind...." He stopped to take a small breathe. "But it's the face that gets the most scrutiny, the most criticism, because that's what people see first."

"Work ethic and professionalism, it's essential in Security, but in order to build a work ethic, you need to know and understand the work ethic of the ones around you. Is this your first swing at the bat?" He asked in his slow drawl.

Jeremy had a hard time following the conversation. He understood the analogies, maybe not exactly agreeing with them. He was able to focus on one thing, however, "It's not willful ignorance to speak the truth. If they leave, I don't have a problem with it. They'll be replaced and the incoming personnel won't have the previous incompetent security chiefs to set the bad habits. Or, they'll conform and stay. Either way, it's not a problem for me. However," Jeremy said, frowning. "I'm not playing a sporting event, so I have not swung a bat."

Ray chuckled. "Missed the point, Lieutenant. I asked if this is your first time as the Head of a Department."

"Then why ask me about participation in a sporting event?" he asked. "Your point would be better served merely asking if this is my first time being the department head." Sidi began barking as he ran after the ducks as they flew around the ceiling.

Ray studied the Officer carefully. "You didn't answer my question." He kept his eyes level with the Lieutenant.

"Which question?" Jeremy asked, "You have asked a number of them."

"Is this your first time in charge of a department?" Ray replied in the same even tone.

"Yes," Jeremy answered as he continued to walk through the arboretum. He really did need to let Lieutenant Panne know how much he appreciated her department's efforts in creating this environment. He was sure the aesthetics were secondary, however they were very well presented.

Ray nodded, having already figured that out, but he left the silence as they continued walking for a period of time, before glancing over to the Officer. He nodded once. "It's not easy...being the one in command." He stated quietly. "Hardest thing I did was command the Marine detachment of the Fitzgerald. Asking all those people to die for me, for the Federation..." He looked down at the ground for a second.

Jeremy continued walking, remaining silent. Apparently Fernandez had some problems with which he still had to come to terms. Though, he frowned as he thought about that. "I've become concerned regarding certain actions taken by Chief Kiwoski. Though I have not had first hand experience, it comes to me that since coming to the Galileo his dependance on alcohol and medication has increased. This indicates to me that he has some ... trauma ... that is left unresolved. What happened?"

"Cyrus? That boy is a tough one. The medication is a sleeping agent, non addictive from what I understand, takes it in a pill form last I heard. " He looked over to Stone. "Booze...that's a tough one. I'll have to talk to him about it."

Ray stopped walking, tapping his cane against the ground. "You didn't read the file?" He asked suddenly. The veteran blew a breathe out of his nose loudly. "Shit son, I think I may need to sit down for this. " They found the nearby bench and Ray sat down. " The Fitzgerald was in charge of hunting down Dominion Resistance Forces after the war. A couple of groups had taken refuge in a nearby cluster and formed pirate parties that took a large group of Federation civilians hostage." He sighed. "He had just saved one group with little trouble, and we had entered the following system with little trouble, so when we located the installation where they were being held at, the Commodore and I felt it best we send a small team to sabotage their building shields.

"It was supposed to be a quick op: get in, blast the shields, rescue the prisoners and get teleported back by all the teleporters in one mass teleport. We had done it at the previous installation. It was a team of six, if i recall." He looked at Stone. "the only two that came back was Cyrus and myself." He pointed briefly at his mechanical eye. "That's how I got this, a damned Vorta got me with a stick...popped it out like it was nothing...Cyrus...he wasn't as lucky. " He paused to take another breathe and shook his head.

"You see, the fire team that went to take out the shields went MIA right after we rescued the prisoners. When we had confirmed they were KIA...I had to improvise. When Fra...when Commodore Sturmgeist attempted to have us al beamed aboard and it didn't work, he demanded a series of shuttle crafts to come land and evacuate the prisoners.
"When we finally got out of the building, we had roughly a hundred or some civilians and there were only three of us left, myself, Cyrus and Sergeant Jacobs...and they had been waiting outside. They had set an ambush at the entrance way and began firing. i ordered Cyrus to take the captives to the shuttles while i held them off. Jacobs hand been shot through the eye."

He leaned back and sighed. "When I was able to find myself back to the shuttle area, I saw Cyrus running away from the group as they were getting into the shuttle, he was running to a near by rack face and then ..." Ray snapped his fingers. "He was gone in a giant flash of light and fire." He chuckled bitterly as he continued. "When the smoke cleared, Kiwosk was still standing, he had been carrying a stolen photon grenade that the DRF had thrown at the civilians. The kid picked it up and ran as far as he could, my guess is that the damned bastard who threw it cooked it off enough that Kiwosk never had the time to throw it back. Cyrus stumbled a bit, and then charged at the two Vorta sitting behind a bank, killed them both with his good arm and then passed out, I damned thought he was dead too."

Jeremy kept listening, filing away the information for later use as necessary. The man that Fernandez described, however, was not the one that he experienced and knew. Fernandez described a much more capable, mature man than Jeremy knew as an obnoxious fratboy.

"It took almost twenty-four hours in sickbay to put him back together, his arm, face, hell the whole side of him was practically obliterated. I don't even know how he survived. He was in a coma for over a month or so and then rehab for another couple months when the order from Starfleet came down saying that he needed to be up and able, and that the mission was going to be documented under classified by SFI." He spat. "Classified...they didn't want people to know that the mission was a botched success. It wasn't for that man...over a hundred people would have been incinerated, he was due for promotion to full warrant for that, but he requested a transfer shortly after, said he needed time to recoup on his own terms." Ray chuckled again, this time sadly. "Hell, after what he had done, I wasn't going to tell him no...so I recommended him, as did the Commodore."

"The boy is one thing...loyal. If he says he's going to do something, by damn, he'll do it and he'll get it done right the first time. You tell him to stop something, it'll stop. You give him an order he doesn't think is right, he will tell you to your face that you're full of..." He coughed suddenly to cover up his next word. "The man is hard when he has to be and gentle when he's needed to be. You will not find a better person to have in your department, because he inspires people to do their best and to work hard to achieve what is needed." He looked hard at Stone. "To be a leader is more than to be in charge. It means to fight for what you believe in, to defend what you think is right. You don't need fancy heroics or a quick shot to be a leader, you have to be the person they draw strength from when they are unsure of what to do, to guide them in doing the right thing. That's what makes good people, great people." He looked at Stone. "And you're a good man Lieutenant, and you have everything to be a great one...but there is one thing holding you back...a vital part that was taken from you..." Ray knew the look Stone had, it was the look of a broken man, weighed down from a terrible wrong. "I hope you can fight through it, because you have the promise to be something you don't even realize."

Jeremy was saved from needing to respond by Sidi coming back and finding them. He bowled around Jeremy, prancing in a circle around him then tearing off to run around the bench and come back to Jeremy before running off again. Jeremy sighed, trying to figure out what made the dog tick.

"What about yourself, Major?" he asked, "How are you coping?"

Ray wondered if the man was asking for his own benefit, "Well, it's an odd thing to ask, I'll try to answer, if I can." Ray smiled and clicked his tongue on the back of his teeth to call Sidi over. "I live my life to the best I can, I tell myself that I'm going to push myself, and others under me as hard as required and harder, so something like that won't happen again. What happened was a terrible thing, but I know that despite all the things we were given from the Federation, all of it's technology...we still suffer from human error. It's what makes us human." He sighed. "I grieved for the men and women lost, but I celebrate the lives they lead and what they accomplished on the tour of duty, but you can't linger on that, especially as an officer. So I dealt with my grief through training, focus, determination and learned to enjoy the company around me. That's what I did anyway."

"My department is...not great..." he said. "They are resistant of change at this time. There will also be civilians who are not used to the greater requirements necessary for training such as this. I can't guarantee that I'll be the first point of contact for complaints. I can't even guarantee that the Commander or Captain will inform me of complaints until after they are brought up to you."

"You leave the combat training to me, if they can't handle it, they shouldn't be trying out for it." Ray let out a light chuckle, as he adjusted his sitting position. "But that last little bit you said...shouldn't the complaints come to you first? " Ray arched an eyebrow before sighing..."I think I understand..." He said finally.

"I won't tell you how to conduct your training unless I need to step in. Within boundaries, you are correct, they shouldn't be trying for the team if they can't handle the training." He sighed.

"You are also a guest aboard this ship at the request of my department, so you are afforded certain courtesies. However, Major, I will let you know that the next time you come to my quarters demanding my time and attention in the manner which you did, you will find my response to be much less pleasant."

Ray chuckled, his face impassive. "And I'm sure you will exercise that to the fullest of your ability. You're not a man of threats, I've gathered that much. " But he looked the Lieutenant square in the face and smiled, his eyes hard. "Neither am I. The gig might work with some people Lieuenant, but I'm not one of them." Just like that, Ray's face went from dark to a sudden grin. "Where are you headed next mister Stone, I'm feeling the urge to walk again, I'll accompany you."

Jeremy had no idea where to go, but it had been a while since he had the chance to do an actual patrol and he wasn't sure how much of the ship Fernandez was given. "Considering the hour, perhaps a patrol. Let's see if Sidi can find some Romulan ale."

"Oh and by the way, I'm not a Major anymore, I'm a Marine, not navy, naval ship or not, I'd appreciate it if you'd call me by my actual rank and not the protocol one."

"Get over it," Jeremy echoed the earlier statement from the older man. "I am from a naval tradition and you're on a ship of naval tradition. We trump your singular preference." he looked at the older man. "You should be grateful I don't refer to you by your actual rank, Colonel."

Ray blinked once, before bursting out laughing. "Well said, son...well said. " Still chuckling, he managed a nod. "Alright, I'll let it slide...for now. What was this about Romulan ale?" Ray asked, feigning disinterest.

"Sidi is trained for contraband detection as well as search and rescue," Jeremy said. "It would not go well for a member of the crew who possessed it considering it's still on the Federation record as an illegal substance. It'll let him work and us walk."

"Sounds good to me. No sense in letting good ale get into Federation hands." Ray grinned. "After you Lieutenant. You know the way better than I do."

Jeremy called Sidi back and went to attach the lead but hesitated. Sidi's obedience to commands was much better since...

He tugged on his sleeve but...he started walking toward the door, watching Sidi heel at his side.

OFF

Marine Captain Ray Fernandez
Marine liaison, TRT Instructor, VIP
Starfleet Academy , Earth.

LTjg Jeremy Stone
Chief Security/Tactical Officer/K9
USS Galileo

Sidious MWD7223
Security Canine unit
USS Galileo

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