Changing of the Guard: Part II

Posted on 29 Aug 2016 @ 2:34am by Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler

2,758 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Click Three Times
Location: Security
Timeline: MD 7 || 0930 Hours

After Cooper left, Corwin shifted where she sat and took another sip of her water. She was officially the Assistant Chief of Security. In all her career, she'd never thought she'd see the day, but then again... she fully expected to be a Close Protection Officer until she decided to retire. Well... until the day she decided she needed a change from the constant attempts on her life and those she'd been assigned to protect. Sadly... her new role on board the Black Hawk didn't seem to be any different. She hadn't really been counting, but if she had to estimate, at least ten people wanted to kill her the day before. It was just another day in the office as far as she was concerned.

She looked toward Camila, wondering how she was feeling after being out of sickbay for nearly two hours now. Happy was one clear assumption, but there had to be a level of discomfort there that she knew the other Lieutenant might not be able to describe. When Joey had been released, there was a bit of nervousness in regards to hurting herself again, which did happen, but that wasn't her fault. "Before we get started, I just wanted to ask you how you're feeling. It's been a couple hours since you've been released now."

Camila held her posture for a minute after Cooper had left, then she sagged and rested her elbows on her desk. "I feel like I've ran a marathon and all I did was talk for a few minutes. Although I did get myself worked up on Cooper," she sighed.

"Maybe you should go get some rest, Camila," the brunette woman said with a look of genuine concern. "I can handle things for you in the meantime. All the horrible things that could have happened took place yesterday. We can keep in touch via comm and video feed. You know if anything important came up, you'd be the first to know about it."

"I'm okay," Camila assured her and took her elbows off the desk to pour herself a glass of water. "I just really need some coffee. Do you have any idea as to when the replicators are coming back online?"

Joey shook her head. "No. I know all power is being diverted to critical areas at the moment. My guess would be once the warp core is back online. I've got no idea when that's going to be, though," she replied. "Are you ready to get down to business, or do you want to take a few minutes?" She still thought Camila needed to rest, but she wasn't going to argue with her. As long as the Chief stayed behind her desk and left all the leg work to her, everything would be okay.

"That's what I thought, but wanted to verify," the Security Chief said before she opened a drawer in her desk after unlocking it with an access code. She reached in and pulled a small box out and pressed her thumb to that and it clicked a second later. Opening it, she pulled out a small pill and set it on the desk before closing and locking the box and putting it back in the drawer again. "Ye olde Security special," she said.

"I don't even want to know what that is," Corwin said, trying to resist shaking her head. "You better hope it doesn't react to what Doctor Abrams has been giving you."

Camila sighed. "I'm going to regret making you my Assistant Chief, aren't I?" she asked, but reluctantly pushed the pill aside. "Don't answer that because you wouldn't have said it if you weren't concerned. So tell me these ideas you have, Joey."

"No, you're not going to regret it, and yes, it's out of concern. We haven't gotten to hang out outside of duty hours, but you're one of only a few people I trust. That means something. We're building a friendship here, and it's because of that that I care," the taller woman said. Once she had that out of the way, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's not secret that yesterday was complete hell. There wasn't a department that wasn't spread thin, but I think Security took a major hit. I'm sure you'll agree with that."

"Nine at the last count and there's still unaccounted for personnel, but they may be in Medical," Camila agreed. "Until we get the internal sensors and everything online, there's no way to know for certain without a deck to deck, room to room search."

"We don't have the man power for that, sadly. Most people have been working well past their normal shifts," Corwin pointed out. And, until they could get more people in, that was going to be the new norm for a while. "So, back to my first idea. We don't have enough man power to guard all the decks when we get boarded even when we're fully staffed. We're looking at twenty personnel on a good day, and not all decks can be patrolled at one time which would leave us vulnerable in certain areas."

Joey took a deep breath and continued, hoping the Chief would be on board for her next suggestion. "Most Cadets are phaser trained during their years in the Academy, but many of them don't continue to follow through with it afterward. My suggestion is we begin phaser training personnel from other departments. The proper ways to handle them, to protect themselves, and everything involved with it. This way, if we're ever boarded again, we can call others in to help contain and control the situation much faster, and hopefully... with no loss of life."

"There was supposed to be classes and training for phaser training but we've been hit with one disaster after another ever since I came aboard," Camila said. "After that, it's been pretty much every person for themselves if Security couldn't get there for whatever reason. I've tried to start Search and Rescue training as well, but so far, only Doctor Kij has shown up martial arts training and Commander Walsh has shown up for the full SAR training."

"SAR training is one thing, but it takes a long time to complete. We need something that will get results faster, and phaser training is the way to go for the time being. I think this should be made mandatory for certain individuals. At the very least, department and assistant department heads," she said. "I'm sure most of them will piss, moan and whine because they don't want to do it, but certain areas of the ship are targeted when we're boarded."

Camila nodded. "I agree, but we need more than department heads. I like your idea, Joey. Gather up as many personnel as you can from every department who is willing and start a schedule to get them trained. This latest incident has cost us all dearly and we can't afford to make the same mistakes."

"Exactly. The next time something like this happens, and I hope it's not for a long time, we need to be ready for it," Joey said as she took another sip of her water. "On to the next... training. I think it might not be a bad idea to train Security personnel, or anyone else who might be willing to learn, in the ways of hand to hand combat. There will come a time when we're disarmed in the field, and being able to think quickly on our feet and take control of a situation like that will be necessary. I'm aware that some people might know certain things in regards to that, but keeping up to date with the latest techniques might not be a bad idea."

"Commander Walsh is currently learning Jiu Jitsu in the Security training facility," Camila said. "As is Doctor Kij, although I don't have high hopes for her. An hour of training and she was in need of a doctor herself. As for the others, what martial arts do you recommend? Many personnel who come out of the Academy have at least one basic style of self-defense, even if they don't stay up to date on it."

"Depending on the style would call for different instructors. Personally, I'm skilled in both lethal and non-lethal hand to hand combat, as well as mixed martial arts. Believe it or not, there's a belt system for hand to hand combat," the brunette woman said. "Those are used to denote skill and experience levels."

"I have a black belt in Jiu Jitsu myself," the Chief said. "I'm always willing to teach people and I saw on the roster that the Command Cadet is learning Aikido and Jiu Jitsu. I always pay special attention to the personnel files when I see someone training in the martial arts in case there's an incident involving something other than weapons involved. What styles of mixed martial arts do you combine?"

"Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo and boxing. Once upon a time, I used to compete, but those days have been over for a while," she replied.

"That's an impressive list to combine," Camila said after taking a drink of water with a grimace. "I'd gladly trade my position for a cup of Raktajino right now." She shook her head and set the glass down. "Which one of those are you most proficient in that you feel would be an asset to other personnel?"

Joey looked thoughtful. "Hand to hand would likely be the best way to go, though, mixed martial arts could be proficient. It's got the potential to be quite deadly. I accidentally fractured the skull of an opponent during a match when I was about twenty years old. That was about the time I decided I didn't want to compete any longer. Now, it's strictly used for defensive purposes."

"That's a good reason for getting out of competition, but it didn't exactly answer my question. Hand to hand is rather generic compared to the combination of styles that you use," Camila pointed out. "Unless it's the style that you learned from the beginning in which case, it would be your style."

"They're all my style, Camila. I've trained in each of them for more than fifteen years, and I still keep up with it to this day," she answered taking another sip of her water. "I suppose the right question to ask here would be.., what are the skill levels of those who are going to be in these sessions? If they've never done anything like it in their lives, then hand to hand combat would be a decent place to start. For those who have already had training in some form or another would be much more knowledgeable, which would put them into a different class, and thus any other style could be handled. I don't mind teaching any of them."

"That's what I thought," she verified. "That's also a very good idea. Put together a list of classes you're willing to offer and I'll make sure it gets distributed." She picked up her PADD and entered the woman's new authorization and access codes into it, then handed it to her. "Can you sign off and reenter your authorization and access codes? It's just official PADDwork to verify that you're the new Assistant Chief of Security, but we'll have to go through it again when the main computer gets back online and fully operational."

Joey took the PADD from Camila and signed off on it, then put in her authorization and access codes. When that was done, she handed it back. "We'll get that taken care of the second we're able to. I know my shift is going to change, too, but I'm going to be pulling a double for the next couple of days so I can help you out."

"That's correct," Camila said. "You'll be moving to Beta Shift and I'm going to be out a good person to talk to while I'm on duty. As for you pulling doubles, don't push yourself more than you have to and I will make that an order if I think you're going beyond what you're capable of, Joey." She sat the PADD back on her desk and closed her eyes for a moment.

"It's only going to be for a couple of days, Camila, just while you get your strength back. I think I can handle that much," Joey said, finishing off her water and setting the now empty glass on the desk. "We'll still be able to talk. There's after duty hours, and I'll pop in on you during duty hours to see how things are going. I'm not moving very far."

The honey blonde woman opened her eyes again. "I hate feeling like this," she said. "I am not used to being inactive or sitting around while others do my work. When I first came here as the Assistant Chief, I was running so much that my days were blurring together. Now I have to wait forty-eight hours at a minimum before I can get back into the swing of things."

"Which is why I'm going to pull doubles so I can help you out. You'll still be able to work, I'll just be your feet, so to speak," the brunette said. "You can do this. You're a strong woman."

"I'm going to do my best, but I know something else is going to come up soon and demand that I do more," Camila said. "It's been one thing after another without break. We didn't even really get a proper break when we stopped off at New Risa and ended up being hit with a Consortium virus."

"That's the life of Starfleet," Corwin said. "It's unlikely we'll ever really get a break. The best any of us can hope for is that we don't finally break under the vast amounts of pressure that gets put on our shoulders with every mission we encounter. This is what we do, though. Handle one issue, then limp on to the next. There really isn't time to dwell on our demons, or hope they don't find another way to escape."

"Do you miss the life of being a Close Protection Officer yet?" Camila had to ask. "At least doing that, you knew someone was going to try to kill you."

Joey was grateful what she'd said was missed. She didn't want to explain that to Camila... or anyone else for that matter. It was her issue to deal with, and she would. "I do, and I don't. I lived that life for so long, that it's become a huge part of who I am. On the flip side of that coin, I don't, because it was time for a change."

"There's always time and room for change and as you said, there's no time to dwell on demons," Camila said in agreement. "That doesn't mean we can't take the time to make sure they never come back. That's what friends are for. People you can talk to about things who won't judge you for what you confide to them. I think that if we have one friend like that, we don't have to face the darkness alone and worry about what might be in it."

"When there's time, which there isn't now," Joey pointed out. "The offer is appreciated, but there's still much to do after what happened yesterday, and you've got more meetings to get through, too. If you need me, I'm only a call away. I'm going to see how things are coming along as far as repairs go. You'll see a report soon enough, I hope. And, I'll get that list to you before the end of Alpha shift, too. Do you need anything right now before I go?"

"Yes," Camila said with a smile. "I need you to stop and breathe every once in a while. I don't want to hear that you pushed yourself too hard and ended up collapsing."

"Done. I'll check in with you in just a bit," the taller woman said as she rose to her feet. "And do me a favor? Put the stimulant back in the box?" With that she smiled at Camila and excused herself from the office to check on progress.

Camila eyed the pill, then reluctantly put it away and reached for an emergency ration in the hopes it wouldn't taste like cardboard. It was going to be a long day.

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