Back in my day...

Posted on 21 Feb 2013 @ 4:02am by Marine Captain Ray Fernandez (Ret.) & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn

2,321 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4 - Arboretum
Timeline: MD 02 2217 HRS

ON]

Ray had been taking a stroll through the arboretum, stretching his legs. There were days he felt in his prime, as fit as he was thirty years ago, and then there were days, like today, when the culminated injuries due to decades of service crippled him. He was using his cane today to help him walk.

Despite his injuries, and his many scars, he had retained most of his good looks, having aged as well as he could have. He could remember the Doctor on board the Fitzgerald fighting with him about going through the minor procedures that would have repaired his bodies superficial scars. He remembered refusing. Just because the ones on the outside are gone Doc...that doesn't mean the inside is any less better, you going to run that thing over my emotions and mind to? I want people to see me for what I am, what I've done, not for how I look. I've been through too much to care about that now. He smiled, knowing that it was the right decision for him. The scars made him look scary in the Academy, helped run the chickens out of the courses.

As the old marine walked by a couple of Yellow topped crewmen he overheard them talking about their CoB. A hard ass by the sounds of it. Ray slowed his pace and listened more intently trying to hear the man's name. "Markum Quinn..." An old Engineer who had served in the Dominion War. "Be nice to with people my own age." He chuckled.

Quinn was taking his usual lunch under the large sassafras tree that towered next to the small pond in the ship's arboretum. It was secluded, as the only other ones that ever seemed to notice the small niche in the thick holly bushes was the ducks and the COB. It was a great place to enjoy the scenery, and to overhear disgruntled crew bitch about the senior officers...and about him.

After several minutes of listening to the two crewman second class whine about how hard it is and that the mean old COB makes them do stuff, Markum figured it was about time scare them to death. Quinn suddenly popped up over the deep green hedges and gave his angriest look he could. "Hey! Numbnuts! Yeah, you two. Get your asses back to work before I put you two on cleaning the hydrogen particles off the outside of the bussard collectors while still in warp."

Quinn noticed a man standing close to the two cry-babies, and gave a wink to him. The man was clearly a veteran, Quinn recognized the look. It was the look of those that have been to hell and back, not once, but so many times that any place else they roam seems...not like home.


It didn't take long for Ray to deduce Markum Quinn from the way he fired his orders, and how the two crewmen ran, tails tucked between their legs. Cyrus looked up at Quinn and applauded before making his way over to the other veteran. "Well, seems like you've done that before older timer." Ray chuckled, adjusting his green uniform. "Ray Fernandez...and by the way you threatened with hydrogen particle warp cleaning...you must be Markum Quinn."

Markum smiled and greeted the man with a warm handshake. "Yes, sir Mister Fernandez. I am." With a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the fleeing crewmen, "Those bozos spend more time complaining than they do working. When I used to be the Chief Engineer here, I gave them a pretty hard reprimand for not obeying safety protocols. Damn kids these days think they are invincible."

"Don't we know different." He replied. "I was Marine CO, back in the day...don't need to tell me about them thinking they're invincible. Cyrus was one of my boys near the end. He only had to deal with DRF. He was lucky. How long have you been here Quinn?" He asked. "And no need for formalities. We're both equals in my eyes, call me Ray."

Quinn smiled and relaxed some. It was nice to have another true veteran around. "Okay, Ray. Thank-you." Motioning to the now unoccupied bench, Markum sat down and made room for his new friend. "I've been aboard for over a year now, and until just recently, I was a Master Chief Warrant Officer, and the Chief Engineer. She was my second new ship I've had the honor of being CEO on her maiden voyage. But, on our last mission I lost my right arm and had it replaced with one of those robot ones. Any way, my assistant was in line for a promotion from a W.O., to an officer. The choice was step aside and take a demotion in rank and let her take over with her new promotion, or stay and she would get promoted then transferred. I love her like my own daughter, so I stood down and let her take over." Quinn looked at the ducks waddling across the pathway, then back to Ray. "Cyrus was one of our boys,eh? Good lad, he is. You taught him well."

" I know all about taking demotions for the 'right cause'. " Ray smiled. "I used to be a Lieutenant Colonel, but they wanted to ground me permanently as part of the SFMC Tactics and strategy branch. " He shook his head. "I knew that I'd be wasted there, any changes I suggested were dismissed as 'notions of the past'. I said ' stay prepared', they heard ' prepare for war.' I said ' Train', they heard ' attack'. By the end of it, I retired. When they realized that I knew what I was talking about, the asked for me to come back, so I told them that they weren't going to ground me and that I would only take the rank of Captain and serve in a teaching role on Earth and from time to time, on board ship training. " He smirked and scratched at his eye scar. "I sure showed them."

As Quinn mentioned Cyrus he nodded. "Taking a grenade to the head certainly didn't change him much." He sighed. "I know the feeling about crew under you. That boy is more a son to me than my own son. My wife left me during the war, took the kids. Never seen them since." It was painful, the idea of his wife, who had held his hand, kissed him farewell and promised him 'til death do us part,' would change the meaning to ' til you are no longer in the system so I can sleep with the neighbor and live off your income.' "I couldn't tell the poor man no, we were the only two to make it back from that ambush."

He sighed. "It must have been rough losing the arm, especially after coming out of the Dom War intact. " He chuckled. "I was pretty pissed off after I lost my eye. I couldn't believe after everything that had happened, that's when I decide I don't need to see normally any more. " He couldn't help, but laugh. "Who attacked? Ferangi? DRF?"

"Damn rogue Klingon ship...of course if you ask me, and as you can imagine the Brass hate when I say this," Quinn scratched his beard slightly and shook his head. "it would seem that anytime an issue comes up that involves a Klingon ship fires upon a Federation starship, the Klingon Commander was rogue, and not a representative of the mighty Klingon Empire. Yet, if we were to do the same, a goddamn galactic war would start over it. I'm tired of letting the Klingons do whatever they want. If they are acting with out the High Council's permission, maybe make examples out of a few and I bet these skirmishes would stop real quick."

Ray whistled low. "Another Klingon ship. Damn, " He nodded. "You're right, that would hate you for saying that, doesn't make it any less true. We know that Klingons have turned to piracy of late, because peace isn't something they...handle well." Ray replied. " I've been thinking that over myself as of late. Klingon agression as intensified over the last five years, we'll give it. These pirates I think have ulterior motives. Unfortunately all we can do is sit back at let lady luck take it's course. "

"Yeah. They'll show their true colors soon enough." answered Quinn. "so Ray, are you here visiting family, or decide to come over and whip these boys into shape?"

"Little A, little B. " He explained. "Cyrus asked me to come here and train this new team of his, and to give him some pointers in advanced tactics and the like. He's the closest thing to a son I have." He chuckled. " Not surprising considering everything that's going on. " He stretched his arms back over his half of the bench. "So Quinn, where were you stationed when the the gasballs decided to declare war on everything but the Cardassians and the Breen?"

"Well, when the War first broke out, I was with the Starfleet Corps of Engineers as a PO First-Class. those first couple moths of the War we flew from one end of the quadrant to another and got not only pretty dirty, but ended up in several hotspots that involved more combat fighting than combat engineering. Then Starfleet commissioned a new Defiant-Class, the Thor. I transferred over before the CO ever was appointed, as the Cloaking Systems Specialist. We were pretty busy on that little lady. One thing about those defiant Classes, they can really take a pounding. I think we spent more time in the Gamma Quad than we did in our own."

Quinn then looked at Ray. "How about you, Ray? Where were you?"

"I was on the Kingston shortly before the War started, I was transferred onto the Intrepid Fitzgerald just as it broke out. Same thing with us. We ran around with our heads cut off until we caught that lucky break. We lost the Intrepid near the middle of the war, she was so shot up after some battle...I can't even remember them all. Anyways, we ended getting a Galaxy. Tough ship, but I'd say it was a little meatier than your Defiant. " He leaned back. "The Thor was it...didn't you gents get sucked into a wormhole or something? I remember reading about that."

Scratching his beard as he remembered the even like it was yesterday. "Yeah, that was us. We we had just finished a hit and run on a major ketracel-white factory in the Gama Quad. The Founders were pissed and came after us like a swarm of Gorin-hornets. We managed to make it to a far side of a blackhole, bust as we began our first cycle around the acclimation disk, the three Jem'hadar battle cruisers that were following us opened fire with subspace weapons. They created a wormhole the size of Mars and it sucked not only us, but the other three ships too. The initial blast killed the Captain, the XO, our helmsman and the Chief Engineer. Our Second Officer was a moron and tried to reverse course inside the wormhole. Luckily a few of us that were left had enough sense to get us straightened out and through the wormhole. Luckily for us we ended up the Azure Nebula. Only one of the Jem'hadar warships made it out in one piece. Luckily for us were managed to survive the barrage it gave us after."

"That's alot of luck in a small ship." Ray replied finally, having listened intently to the entire story. "Rough about the Captain and the XO. when the CoC drops, things get crazy, it's good you were able to pull it together. Who else would whip the youngins' into shape?" "No wormholes in my time, but we did end up toe to toe with more than we could count when we were at DS9...that's a day I'd like to forget.

" It was a blasted armada of Dominion warships, it felt like we were dropping ourselves into a meat grinder, the Fitz especially. She swooped in and transported her entire marine department over three Dominion vessels. I was onboard one Galor class, type 2 I think, I don't reightly remember. I do remember laughing when the Cardassians realized that our engineering department modulated the transported to bypass their shields. " Ray smiled. "We blew the engines in three ships and caused two warp core breaches that wiped the ship and their buddies around them. " He sighed and shook his head. "We lost about half the section and the Fitz was so badly damaged she was liumping at one quarter impulse with minimum lifesupport and one operating phaser bank by the end of the fight. " He leaned his head back and chuckled as he continued to speak. "Always loved the Intrepid class after that."

Quinn nodded eagerly. "The are like to old Miranda-Class. Those old border cutters could take one hell of a walloping, and still manage to fly home under its own steam. Intrepids are the same way. They are under appreciated, and more times than not, under estimated by attackers, out looking for an easy kill."

Ray smiled, glad for the vet's company. " too true. Know what else I've learned. Talking about old times goes better with a stiff drink and many a toast. " He pushed off the bench and sighed dusting his hands off on his pants. "What do you say Markum?"

Quinn smiled and stood as well. "You know, ray. I just happen to have a fresh new batch of home-brew and some of my Uncle's old time Tennessee Whiskey."


OFF:

Marine Captain Ray Fernandez
Marine Commanding Officer (Ret.)
Starfleet Academy Earth

Master Chief Petty Officer Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

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