NCO's

[Kansas 0]

09.10.09

USS Agincourt NCC-81762

"NCO's"

 

The negative events of the last two shift cycles had weighed heavily on the ships XO. Normally somewhat “perky”, or at the very least somewhat upbeat, Commander Kansas JoNs was by contrast subdued and serious at this current moment.

 

On the positive side of the whole issue, Matthews was a crackerjack Marine who knew his way around combat engagements. As long as someone was firing a weapon at him, things went smoothly and he knew exactly what he was doing. On the negative side, get him off the battlefield, and he could be a surly and combative marine who railed against authority, depending on the situation. Particularly, her authority it would seem.

 

On the so called logical side of the problem, if Matthews didn’t seem to constantly butt heads with JoNs, then the gropo would have probably wrangled constantly with someone else along the command staff line, but that was no small comfort.

 

What it all came down too was that Kansas was done with playing games with the man. Don’t be a martinet, don’t crowd your officers, get to know the beings under your command, be a buddy but keep it within command parameters…the felinoid had usually followed all of these “unofficial rules” to the letter, and Matthews had been no exception. But, it would seem that the typical command officer approaches really hadn’t made any progress with this situation.

 

And she did know Buddha; it’s not like he was a stranger, and that made the disciplinary action against him even more of a distasteful, but necessary decision. Hell, he had been a pretty good trainer -- one of the nicer ones as a matter of fact -- to her when JoNs had been ordered through Agincourt’s version of boot camp. He might have also carried her to the medical bay after a particularly nasty hand to hand combat session with one of the second shift fire teams. The Cait really couldn’t recall the full details as she had been a bit…loopy at the time with the blows that had connected with her head and all that. Good training stuff, but damn that marine hand to hand expertise.

 

She also knew that he had lost family during the Soltan bombardment of Earth, and the psychological fall out from that had sent him to Counseling. Or rather, after a particularly nasty clash between JoNs and Matthews during the bombing of the Sciences section a few months ago, the felinoid had suggested he transfer off ship temporarily for some sessions, and the medical leave of absence had been approved by the command staff.

 

Obviously his anger hadn’t subsided…but he couldn’t control it off duty, and that seemed to be the problem. It fed into the dereliction of authority…

 

= = =

 

Elsewhere in the NNC Marine Command area, a few of the non-commissioned sergeants were breaking in a new lance corporal via a card game. The marines were all off duty, and wore the standard black BDU’s. There attention was on the current hand for the card game, but every once in a while, a furtive look would be directed over towards the Ex Oh’s private NNC office.

 

A female staff sergeant, her short black hair slicked back with water since she had just taken a shower a little whole ago, was speaking to the group at large. “What I’m sayin’ is you’d better get her over here into this card game before she pops out an eyeball or somethin’ thanks to that stress. See those muscle bulges in her neck? Oh yeah, that’s always a good thing…”

 

A male tactical sergeant, one side of his face sporting a thin scar, spoke up. “You know, we don’t have to babysit a Fleeter. Why don’t I just comm the Master Chief to come down and grab her? I mean, isn’t he her designated NCO anyway?”

 

Four pairs of eyes turned to stare at the speaker.

 

“What?!”

 

A third member of the poker group, a Bajoran male who had just made sergeant, jumped into the conversation then. “The commissioned officers are always our responsibility, and it doesn’t matter the department or branch. So MCPO Keltex ain’t here, and we are.”

 

The younger corporal finally spoke up, and his tone was plain curious. “What about Gunny Hef? JoNs seems to get along pretty good with him? And I’m confused here – we don’t coddle Medusa Harper, so why’re we so concerned about Will JoNs?”

 

The TAC Sgt smacked him on the back of the head. “Well duh, jackass, that’s because we don’t have to worry about ‘Dusa. She’s a twenty something year commissioned vet. She knows what she’s doing, so the NCO’s that trained her obviously knew what they were doing and did a good job. But, we gotta watch out for this young one for a little while longer.”

 

A slight smile broke out as he continued speaking. “The commander’s been doing pretty good though since she got the XO office down here and can learn from our shining NCO example.”

 

Everyone gave a good natured snort out loud at that.

 

“Well…maybe she just needs a nice ball of yarn to work off the stress.”

 

“One hundred credits if you say that directly to her.”

 

“Oh wait. Let me think about…no.”

 

The younger Human corporal cocked his head to one side and continued with his curious line of questioning amidst the good natured jarhead banter among the others. “Well…if we watch out for our commissioned guys, then why didn’t we stop Matthews from his little rendezvous?”

 

The Staff spoke up on that one. “Hey, it’s his love life, not ours. It was Buddha’s choice to try and do the so called deed out in the open.”

 

The Corporal spread his hands. “Well, why do I have to go ask JoNs to join us?”

 

The newest sergeant chuckled. “Because you’re the newest lance corporal, and we must start your training in the ways of the NCO Watcher, my Padawan.”

 

The TAC Sgt. growled. “…if I hear one more freakin’ reference about old Earth science fiction shows out of you Hollister, I’m going to shove our deck of cards someplace a bit important…”

 

The Staff Sergeant waved off the argument and turned her attention back to the Corporal. “Just go get her Hayward. We promise she won’t bite. Hiss, possibly.”

 

= = = =

 

JoNs was still replaying a dozen thoughts over in her mind, the weight of holding a command post definitely weighing on her conscience and overall general well being.

 

Would she push for discharge from the Fleet? No. Would she push for extended counseling sessions for him? Yes. Would she push for formal additions to his file regarding a reprimand and insubordination charges? Yes. Would she push for a few ranks in demotion? That was a very, very distinct possibility…

 

Then, a tentative though deep voice yanked her back into the present and out of her thoughts.

 

“Uh….Commander? We have a poker game going on over in the lounge. Wondering if you’d like to join us.”

 

The Human kid hanging out in her office entry way was young and good looking, but still had that new recruit green glow about him, figuratively. “Corporal, thanks for the invitation. I’ll have to pass on the offer.”

 

“I was told if I do not bring you back, I will be thrown into the pool.”

 

“Corporal, this is your only warning. Get. Out.”

 

“Commander. Your neck muscles are bulging, and that is not a good thing. C’mon Sir - Will. I like that call sign…haven’t gotten mine yet.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “The guys won’t tell me how you got it, so I’d be obliged if you shared the story. Just a couple hands?”

 

A slew of growled invectives died at the back of her throat. She was tired, her double shift was now officially over, and she needed some sort of break. She didn’t even feel hungry after the whole situation with Matthews, but a diversion sounded just about right, and a pickup NNC card game pretty much fit the bill.

 

The leonine feline set her desktop computer monitor into hibernate mode with a simple typed command, and then started to move away.

 

“That’s a good girl…”

 

Could’ve heard a pin drop; Kansas stopped moving from behind her desk and glared at the younger NCO.

 

His eyes betrayed a slight panic as he realized how that statement had sounded. “Uh…well…Sir, no offense, but you look exactly like a ginger orange colored cat I had when my sisters and I were kids…sorry, I can’t help it.”

 

Kansas flashed the Corporal a mild look of death, but she gave him the benefit of the doubt. Humans, at times, just couldn’t help that knee jerk “here kitty kitty, you are such a good kitty” thing. It wasn’t racist, just a species specific ingrained habit on the part of the Humans.

 

She starting asking a few questions regarding said cat as they again started their walking progress toward the lounge area.

 

“Was this pet cat of yours a good cat Corporal?”

 

“Yes Sir. Had her for fifteen years. Went everywhere with myself and my sisters on the farm…”

 

The junior corporal and the senior NCO’s got the miffed Caitian Ex Oh all settled into the card game, and what do you know? About halfway through the card game, while the command weight on her shoulders hadn’t lifted, JoNs felt a bit lighter mentally as her attention was drawn onto something else and she had also started to feel hungry…