The Call

Posted on Thu Jul 18th, 2013 @ 4:56am by 2nd Lieutenant Tash Stevens
Edited on on Fri Jul 26th, 2013 @ 9:27am

Mission: Nothing Stays the Same
Location: Marine Barracks USS Jacinta
Timeline: 19th of December 2382 16:30

On:

~~~Marine Barracks, USS Jacinta~~~

Second Lieutenant Natasha Jane Stevens had been lying on her back in her cramped bunk bed on the USS Jacinta when the call had come in. She looked up from the small PADD that she had been reading and looked across to the intercom panel that was built into the nearby dull grey bulkhead. Natasha or Tash as she preferred to go by had been going over the latest performance reviews of the Jacinta's small Marine platoon for the better part of the past hour with a fine tooth comb. It was a document that the browned haired Second Lieutenant had already read over multiple times in the past twenty four hours and she knew it almost word for word. Tash normally would of never gave such a simple report so much attention but it had served as a perfect distraction and time waster as she waited for the call. She let the PADD drop onto her chest and then gently tapped her communicator which was attached to the left breast of her standard issue Starfleet uniform.

Stevens: +Taps+ Second Lieutenant Stevens here go ahead.

There was silence on the other end of the intercom for a couple of seconds before the unmistakable voice of First Lieutenant Charles "Charlie" Pierce with his rich southern accent filled the small communal sleeping area. First Lieutenant Pierce was three years her senior and was Tash's immediate supervising officer, he was also the Jacinta's Marine Commanding Officer.

Pierce: =/\= I've got some free time if you still want to have that talk. =/\=

Stevens: ;;gulps;; Yes I do.

Pierce: =/\= Very well. I'm in my office swing on by when you're ready. =/\=

Stevens: ;;nods to no-one in particular;; I will be there shortly.

Pierce: =/\= Good. I'll see you then. Pierce out. =/\=

Tash took a couple of deep breaths to compose herself as Pierce shut down their intercom channel from the other end. The time had come for their meeting, a meeting where Tash planned to lodge her request for a transfer to a new assignment. First Lieutenant Pierce knew what was coming as Tash had spoken to him about it in the past but it was still a conversation that she was not looking forward to. The Jacinta had been her first assignment after graduating from the Marine Academy in 2381. In over a year she made a life for herself on the Jacinta and Pierce had became not only her boss but one of her closest friends. As her friend Pierce had tried to talk Tash out of her decision to put in a transfer request but her mind was already made up and her conviction to see it through was set in stone.

The young marine swung her legs around to the side of her bunk and sat up carefully to avoid hitting her head against the top bunk. There was many things that Tash would miss on the Jacinta but the marine accommodations would not be one of them. The Jacinta an Intrepid Class Starship was not an overly large vessel and space was always at a premium. The twenty member strong marine contingent knew that better most as they operated and lived out of a cargobay that had long ago been modified into a small marine barracks and training area. The lack of room meant that Tash the junior of the two marine officers assigned to the Jacinta was forced to bunk with the other five women who were assigned to the ship's marine company all of whom were enlisted soliders. Despite the cramped and communal nature of her living arrangements Tash knew that both she and the rest of the women assigned to the Jacinta's platoon had the better deal as they each had a bunk that they could call their own, unlike their male counterparts who had to hot bunk each shift. Out of all twenty of the Jacinta's Marines only First Lieutenant Pierce the senior member of the ship's marine platoon had his own quarters which were located up on Deck Six near Holodeck Two.

Tash placed the PADD down next to her on the mattress and stood up from her bed. She walked across to the wall where one of her bunk mates Corporal Nicole Hunter had hung a small rectangular shaped mirror that the women could use to check on their appearance without having to go to the locker room or shower bays. Tash leaned forward and studied her reflection closely in the small mirror as she pulled her light brown hair that had been hanging loose around her shoulders up into a loose ponytail. Finishing with her hair she zipped up her dark uniform jacket and straightened out her commbadge which for some reason was hanging crooked to the right.

Kneeling down at the foot of her bed Tash pulled open her small footlocker that contained her meagre possessions and stowed the PADD that contained the performance reviews away for safe keeping and away from any prying eyes. She then picked up a second PADD that was sitting on top of her second and neatly folded uniform. She rested on her haunches and looked over the PADD's contents that held her finely worded transfer request. She took a couple of minutes to make sure that she had dotted all of I's and crossed all of her T's. Satisfied that she was finally ready to go Tash pushed her footlocker shut and waited until it locked before she pulled herself up from the floor and headed for the door.

Like most other locations in the Jacinta's compact Marine Barracks First Lieutenant Pierce's office was located on a short walk away from the women's bunk room. Tash's eyes zoomed over the PADD as she neviously rechecked her transfer request for what felt like the 100th time as she walked the familiar route to Pierce's Office passing both the showers and locker rooms on the route. She was so absorbed in her reading that she ended up bumping into a fellow marine as she rounded the corner. She looked up in both shock and embarrassment at her fellow marine to see that it was none other then Private Leroy Jenkins who was on guard duty. The private was dressed in full armour and called a standard issue type III phaser rifle in his arms. It was always standard procedure for a couple of marines to be on guard and patrol duty during the day. They normally didn't wear armour whilst on patrol, but it was something that First Lieutenant Pierce had mandated following the Gorn's unprovoked invasion of the Cestus System.

Jenkins: ;;snapping to attention;; Sorry Ma'am.

Stevens: It's all right Jenkins, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. ;;stepping out of the way;; Carry on.

Jenkins: Yes Ma'am.

Jenkins was the youngest and most inexperienced member of the Jacinta's Marine Contingent. He had only finished training last month and the Jacinta was his first posting away from Earth. To help acclimatise him to life aboard a starship the Jacinta's First Sergeant had assigned him to extra guard duty which the Private seemed to be almost relishing. Tash watched the Private as he returned his patrol and quickly disappeared from view as he rounded the corner.

Resuming her walk Tash continued down the narrow corridor and passed by the small room that served as both the First Sergeant's and her office. The next dark grey door down was the door to First Lieutenant Pierce's office. She came to a stop and turned to face the closed doors. Her finger hovered over the button that would sound the door chimes as she built up the courage to press the button and start the process that would soon take her away from the Jacinta and everything that she knew. She firmly reminded herself of the reasons for why she was doing this, her career was stagnating on the Jacinta and she needed room to branch out and grow, which was something that she sadly couldn't do on this ship.

Finding her conviction at last Tash's finger hit the button and sounded the chimes with more force then she had expected, hurting her finger. There was silence on the other end of the door for what felt like an eternity before finally Pierce spoke.

Pierce: ;;from inside the door;; Come in.

The doors slid open to reveal the interior of First Lieutenant Pierce's office. Tash's moment of truth had finally come, pulling together all of courage and fortitude that she could muster Tash marched into the room.

Off: TBC

Second Lieutenant Tash Stevens
Marine Executive Officer
USS Jacinta