A Good Defense
Posted on Mon Jun 10th, 2019 @ 12:01pm by Major Cornelius Tremble
Edited on on Mon Jun 10th, 2019 @ 8:41pm
1,243 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Episode 7 - Home Again
Location: Snake Pit - Marine Country
Timeline: MD005 1330 hrs
Neil was lounging in the Snake Pit, having given up work in his office and not quite yet feeling up to taking shore leave. Before he could consider that, he had to meet with General Sobel and that was day after tomorrow. So, he was killing time shooting the breeze with some of the Cure’s marines and trying to come to grips with the past mission on Cardassia.
The last was not too far up on want to do list, but there would have to be a debrief sometime and Malbrooke would likely want a pound of flesh after his actions, even with he and Moore having come to a reckoning.
He was jerked out of dark thoughts by PFC Gould nudge and whisper, “Sir. Fleet…”
Looking up, Neil caught site of the Pioneer’s Science Chief and…a child? He recognized the Ó Flannagáin child…but for the life of him he couldn’t remember her name. He nodded to Gould and the Marine shot to his feet, “Attention on Deck!” Ten marines jumped to their feet and stood to attention as Ameri and Enya stopped in surprise at the entrance.
Standing, Neil called out “As you were, marines.” Walking forward, he smiled at Ameri, “Hello, Lieutenant. Welcome to Marine Country.” Then he glanced at Enya, “And who’s this? I have been expecting replacement marines?”
“Hello 1st Lieutenant,” Ameri smiled in return. “This is my daughter Enya.” She looked at Enya, expecting her to say something to Tremble,a greeting of sorts.
Enya had a big grin on her face, as she looked around the room. Her smile suddenly dropped when she stood in front of Neil. Wow he was larger than life. She did not know what to say. "Hello." She softly said, feeling a little intimidated.
“We need your help,” Ameri said. “You were the one person everyone on the ship recommended.”
Neil dropped to a knee so he was at eye level with the child, he extended his hand, "Very nice to meet you, Enya." Cocking an eyebrow up at Ameri, he said "No need to be quite so formal, Lieutenant. Call me Neil. And what was I recommended for?"
"To teach us self defense." Enya said, looking at the man, that dropped down to her eye level. She was not sure what she could do, to defend herself in case of an attack, but she was curious to learn.
Dropping his hand, Neil stood again and thought for a few beats. "Well, that's an interesting idea," he hedged, "And we can probably figure out something. Looking at Enya, then at Ameri he said, "I'm on medical restrictions right now and we have to listen to the doctors."
He paused and then continued, "That being said, I don't think waiting is a good idea. Let me talk to Gunnery Sgt. Wilson to see if she'll stand in for me and start the training. I think some hand to hand mixed with a bit of Escape and Evasion lessons are in order."
Smiling down at Enya, he said "E&E is marine-speak for hide and seek, though we concentrate on the hiding part. What do you think, Enya?"
Ameri could see that Enya was excited and she really appreciated how Neil spoke to her daughter. Enya often felt like she was invisible.
Enya wondered what the Gunny was like. She over heard some marines talking in the mess hall, that a Gunnery Sergeant was often referred to as a Gunny. She was not sure why, but that title nick name sounded cool.
“We will defer to your expertise,” Ameri said to him. She was so happy that Enya appeared to be embracing this. “I know we won’t be experts like all of you but I want to know we can put up a fight if need be.”
"Fight Momma?" Enya said, trying to hold in her enthusiasm. She always wanted to learn hand to hand combat.
“Maybe fight is the wrong word,” Ameri frowned. “What would you call it?” She asked Enya.
"Defense, Daddy says its okay to run away." Enya said, as she looked at her mother.
“There you have it,” Ameri smiled at Neil. “We are ready to learn.”
Enya stood tall, curious to learn what Neil had to offer. What would he teach first, rifle shooting. How to kill a man with a pinky finger? She had no idea, what lesson plan was being considered for them. Nor should she, was only 10 years old.
Unconsciously taking up a position of parade rest, Neil gave it some thought and then said "Very well, recruits. Training will begin in two days time at 08:00 sharp unless that interferes with school or duty. Send myself and Gunny Wilson a timetable and we'll organize it. Uniform of the day will be marine workout attire, with running shoes. I'll send patterns to your replicator and you can make sure they fit."
Glancing down, he knelt again and looked at Enya, "And the most important part of all this, recruit. No complaints. You may not like me or the Gunny and you can complain to your parents as much as you like." Grinning he said, "But we don't need to hear it. Get me recruit?"
Ameri smiled to herself. She had a feeling Enya wouldn’t be complaining, she was looking forward to this. It had been her idea to train with marines.
"Why do you call me a recruit Sir?" Enya said, not really sure why she was called a recruit. What did he mean by that? Was she becoming a marine?
"Because, Enya. When we train people, we call everyone recruit at first to show that they are a part of the family. Now when I went through training I was called several things, but recruit was the nicest of them," at that several of the marines behind him snickered slightly.
"Maybe, after you've gotten to see some of what we do you'll want to become an official recruit and be a marine one day. For now though, you're a junior member of the Cure."
Ameri smiled at the look on Enya’s face. Neil had given her baby girl some purpose and that was what she was hoping for. “We will be here.” Ameri said to the Lieutenant. “Thank you for your willingness to help us out.”
Enya had no idea, what the The Cure, was? She just smiled, and followed her Mothers lead. "Thank you sir." She said, with a big grin on her face.
“We will see you in two days,” Ameri replied with a nod. “Thank you again.” Ameri turned to Enya. “Let’s go, they have lots of work to do.” Ameri was so excited to tell Quinn.
Very well, we'll see you then. Neil reached to his left shoulder and pulled the Cures unit patch off and tossed it to Enya, then settled back into his chair to watch the marines finish their game of Risk and consider what he'd just agreed to.
A joint post by:
First Lieutenant Cornelius Tremble
Marine Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Ameri Ó Flannagáin
Assistant Chief Science Officer, USS Pioneer
Enya Ó Flannagáin
Child, USS Pioneer
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