Post #60 Reunited
Posted on Wed Oct 23rd, 2024 @ 3:07am by Captain Marius Pontmercy
1,391 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission: Obsidian
ON:
Jordan walked with Captain Pontmercy back to his office. He took the seat across from him and waited for him to sit down. Looking around his eyes came back to Marius, and he spoke.
“I am ordering furniture for your office.” Jordan said in a strong voice. “And don’t give me any arguments. You are our leader, and your office needs to give everyone hope for things to come.” He grinned then. “Here we are once again, bringing a crew together with very different opinions.” Marius laughed and waved him off.
"It's fine, there are way more important things than my ready room." He looked at his once again XO "I can't believe we are here again across from one another."
“I can’t lie to you.” Jordan murmured. “I have lived a dark life on behalf of the Federation. I have blood on my hands in the name of peace in the universe.” His eyes held a hint of pain most would never see. “But it saved more lives than we could count. When I received this offer, it saved my life.” He smiled then. “It feels good to be here.” Marius paused a few seconds before speaking.
"I'm sorry you endured that...this war," he said before breaking off. "This war has taken so much. It's hard to believe that the USS Horizon-A was among our easier fays." He didn't speak on his most recent experiences, he wasn't ready. He knew Jordan and considered him a friend, but there would be time for all that.
“We’ve both been to hell and back.” Jordan replied. “From the look in your eyes. No words need to be said. I would like to concentrate on crew quarters as well as proper replicators once we sort out priorities.” His eyes met Pontmercy’s. “I know we want to find out the real reason for all of this but to me that isn’t the priority. It’s getting the base sustained.”
"We need to be protected, and able to withstand an attack. Will you make sure it's happening? There's so much to do."
"I will." Jordan nodded. "When I leave here, I will speak with both Lieutenant Haines and V'Lar." He paused. "I have some experience, having been your former security chief, I plan to be hands on and help as much as I can, if that is acceptable?" He would ask but he was going to do it anyway, they both knew he would. Jordan was stubborn when it came to the safety of the crew. Marius rolled his eyes.
"It's weird hearing you be formal. I want information about whatever V'Lar finds out sent to me as soon as she has it. I know that there is more going on than we know."
“Anything I know, you will know.” Jordan said with a grin. “It was killing me too. I gotta be me.” He sighed. “We got ourselves some stubborn crew.”
"As always....but I seem to remember you being stubborn yourself."
“I still am.” Jordan grinned .”I just happen to agree with the ones who believe we get the station set up before we consider a next step.”
"Indeed. I don't want to move from one difficult situation into another potentially dangerous one without knowing more." He sat back, rubbing his chin. "I'm still learning about this station as it is, but I'd like to get shops and restaurants into the promenade. It may help with crew morale."
“I’ll see what I can do to get someone to work on it.” Jordan murmured. “It will be nice to have places to go and relax.”
"Agreed." Marius sighed and rubbed his temples. "Nothings ever easy is it?"
“Not for people like us.” Jordan said with a nod. “But then I don’t think I could handle it if it was, could you? My life has been hard every step of the way.”
"I guess that's why they choose us to handle these things." Marius shifted in his seat before speaking again. "All of thebthings we've seen...the destruction of the Horizon-A, the Zaj...the deaths of friends and family, and somehow we are still here. It only makes us stronger."
“It does indeed.” Jordan nodded. “We are a special breed. We don’t always follow the straight and narrow and we know sometimes things are more gray than black and white.”
"Some of us dip a little more into the gray than others," Marius said with a tired smile.
“It is what kind of surprises me,they sent me here.” Jordan said with a nod. “I was in so deep I wasn’t certain I would be able to get back out again.”
"You always find your way," Marius said. "I remember a time in our lives that I wanted you arrested and sent as far away from me as possible. Now look at us!" He grew serious. "I'm glad you made it here."
Jordan nodded. “I would have deserved it.” He shook his head. “I would have deserved it, for the life of me I can’t figure out why you didn’t. It was a defining moment in who I have become.”
"I decided it was worth more to me to make you my ally than my enemy, and I got a friend out of the bargain. We are more than our mistakes."
“I’d never had anyone fight for me until you.” Jordan acknowledged with a nod. “We are allies and friends.” He shook his head and smiled. “Look at me being all philosophical.” Marius laughed openly.
"It's an interesting development," he teased, "but I'd categorize it as personal growth. Or maybe you've served with me for too long. I have a tendency to be too serious and contemplative."
"It comes with all you've been through." Jordan said with a nod. "We all handle things differently. I try to find as much humor as I can because I need the relief at times. It's been a dark life a good share of it and I like to see people smile or show emotion. It means they aren't puppets." Marius laughed.
"You are probably right," he said. "What is next on your agenda for today?"
“I’ll be meeting with Lieutenant V’Lar and then Jude.” Jordan replied. “The kids nothing like me, he’s Josiah’s son. I think he’s a bit more like Joel than either of us.”
"Joel was the most... agreeable out of all of you," Marius said with a surprised laugh. "You Haines' are a bit... difficult," Marius said, in a teasing voice.
Josiah’s was mostly his undercover persona.” Jordan said quietly. “It almost ruined him. You wouldn’t even know he was the same man if you saw him today. Young did a number on him.” Marius grit his teeth at the mention of Admiral Young.
"That...man...had a lot of crimes that he deserved to answer for." He wanted to say more, but he bit his tongue.
“He is dead along with my sperm donor and I can’t feel bad for either one of them.” Jordan said with a growl. “This way they are in their own hell and can’t come back to haunt us.”
"Where they belong," Marius said, seriously. The pair of them were some of the worst his crew had faced, and the fact that they had been Starfleet made the sting even worse. "Alright," he said finally, "we should get to work," he said, adjusting his position in his chair as he sat up straight.
“I’ll head to speak with Jude.” Jordan informed him. “And then then on to V’Lar. If you need me, just whistle.” He smiled at that.
"Oh I imagine you'll hear a lot from me in the next few months," Marius said. He watched Jordan exit his Ready room, and smiled to himself. They hadn't always had a good relationship, but he was glad to see the man now. He had turned into someone he would trust his life with, and that was saying something indeed.
Jordan headed on his way. He hated the utter disrepair of the base. Everything was torn apart and hardly anything was operational. Only a couple replicators base wide. They had a lot of work ahead of them.
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