Office of the Task Force 17 Commanding Officer
May 13, 2385 0735 hours
Jordyn Mormar had already been in his office for an hour and a half when he had got the message.
Early mornings were a habit, ever since he was a cadet at Westpoint. Up before dawn local time, a KP run and stretch, hit the firing range, and then starting on his duties. A good routine for himself. Just a few people from his generation of Marine officers still did that… but he considered those that did not lazy. A coffee and a light breakfast later, and he was all ready to go for the day.
But now…
Maria was on the way.
“Shit,” he muttered under his breath. Jordyn had asked for Maria to come out here personally, but Jordyn didn’t actually expect her to come out to Theta Antares, much less take command over from Brigadier General Worth.
And, against all odds, she was expected this evening.
He hit a button on the control panel. “Keri, I need some bandwidth on the Caesius communications array, a secure channel to the… USS Landsdowne,” he ordered. “Contact Colonel Huddle, get it done.” His finger left the call button, and he started pacing, worried about what to say to this woman, probably one of the only women in the Marine Corps to make him sweat profusely as he was doing right now…
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USS Landsdowne
May 13, 2385 0751 hours
Maria read over the report about the mental condition of Brigadier General Worth. ” This is bad.” She said to her ex husband over the screen. He had seemed genuinely surprised at the orders to have her transferred under his command.
“I agree,” Jordyn replied on the screen.
“I only met Rae Ann in person a couple of times, but Holy Christ Jordyn she seemed stronger than this ..” She could not even find the correct word to describe what the Psychiatrist and Counselors were calling a ‘ Complete nervous breakdown.’ ” crap…What the Hell happened out there?”
“People have their breaking points, Maria,” Jordyn replied. “They had her past her breaking point, and from what I observed from the way she treated her staff, it was being tested even while on duty. You’ll have your work cut out for you out here.” He sighed. “The mission reports-”
” Don’t give me what the fucking reports say, I know what the fuckin mission report says, tell me what happened out there?” Maria was getting angrier by the second ” It takes more than a little phaser fire to knock a damned Marine General completely off her rocker this way!”
“Maria, calm down-”
“Don’t you of all people tell me to calm down!” She pointed at him. “I still have your Stephenwolf music, and will break it into a thousand pieces!” She moved to a shelf behind her, and took a data cyrstal out of a box, and then loaded into the computer a Take a Load Off Annie by Stephenwolfe begin to play. She closed her eyes the familiar lyrics of ‘ I rode into Nazarth, I was feeling half past dead..’ brought back memories of a happier time.
“MARIA WOULD YOU CALM THE FUCK DOWN!” He had lost his cool head as she was playing the music, not from the fact that she might destroy it – music was replaceable, after all – but from the fact that she looked like she was having a breakdown right there and then. “Break the music, I don’t care. Just listen to me and let me explain the situation. You wanted a briefing, and you’ll damn well get one, and stop flying off the handle every time a sentence that comes out of my mouth doesn’t start the way you want it to.”
Maria set down on her desk, her arms folded. “I just don’t know what to think.”
“Neither does anyone else,” Jordyn replied. “This happened too suddenly for anyone to figure out overnight. Cussing me out is not the way to go.”
“I am not cussing you out, you would know it if I was.” Her arms were still folded, but she was listening to what he had to say.
“I bet I would.” Jordyn allowed a very small smile to cross his lips. “The reports said she was very brutally tortured… and I believe it was the truth. I also believe, and this wasn’t in the reports, that she did break under the pressure of the interrogation. I can see it in her face… I’ve ordered the XO of the station to change every security protocol, rotate security schedules differently, and I’ve personally fired the Chief of Security. I would have liked to fire him from a torpedo tube, but we all don’t get what we wish for.”
“The XO what’s he like?” she asked him, because she wanted to have an idea if person she would be working closest with was capable or not.
“Seems competent enough,” he said. “Colonel Huddle is adequate at being XO, but might have something to do with family ties… I’d still watch out for him, though. He was Officer In Charge at the time of Worth’s kidnapping.”
“Great…” She rolled her eyes ” and Dufray what does he say about all of this?”
“He’s been… rather quiet as of lately,” Jordyn allowed. “I haven’t heard word one from him since I got here. I know this isn’t exactly kosher, Maria, but… can you watch him for me? I have a feeling that something’s not right with him.”
“You have got to be fucking kidding me?” Her arms unfolded, and she moved back behind her desk into her chair. “This gets better and better.”
“You’re working with me, it should be better and better,” he replied, arms unfolding as well. He leaned closer and put his elbows on the desk in front of him, resting his head on his hands. He took a deep breath and said after a moment, “It’s… it’s good to see you again, Maria.”
“Yeah well when I get there I will bake you a cake!” she said, watching him relax a little.
“A cake, you say…” Jordyn thought for a moment. “What kind?”
“Jesus, Jordyn I don’t know: What kind do you want?” It was going to come from the replicator anyway so it did not matter to her.
“Something with chocolate,” he said. “And perhaps a good shot of cherries too.”
“I will make a note of that.” She smiled slightly.
“When will you get here?”
“We have been traveling at warp 9, so a few more hours.” Her orders had said ‘ASAP’ so the ship had been going maximum warp the entire trip.
“Excellent,” Jordyn said. “I have a feeling Colonel Huddle will appreciate the relief from paperwork.”
“Alright, I will see you soon. De’Masi out.” She closed the channel, and then looked up Colonel Huddle’s profile… this was going to be interesting indeed.
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Office of the Task Force 17 Commanding Officer
May 13, 2385 0756 hours
Jordyn slouched back in his chair, wondering what kind of fate will befall the kingdom now. He pressed the call button. “Keri, get in here.”
A few seconds later, the outer door slid open, and in walked Keri Princeton, his assistant. “Yes, sir?” she asked.
“Any other ex-wives decide to get assigned to this sector, please, tell the planetary gunners to put me out of my misery,” Jordyn said, leaning back in his chair and looking at the ceiling.
“Sir?” Keri asked, a confused look crossing her face.
“Never mind. Prepare to receive a flag officer in the next few hours. And apparently I’m going to need some plates and cutlery.”
