The Streets of London

Posted on Sat 10th Jun, 2017 @ 2:15pm by Colonel Horatio Drake

1,107 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: For The Uniform
Location: Deck 12: CO's Ready Room
Timeline: MD-01: 1300 Hours

Brock had just finished his introduction with his new boss and had been shown around the Security Section. He was now on his way to the Operations Centre to meet with the Station Commander, Colonel Drake.

Brock was a little surprised being summoned to the Colonel's office as he only ever presented to the Chief of Security, but this what happens when you get promoted. Becomes less about the job you love doing and more about meetings and politics, which he hated. He just wanted to lock up villains and you don't catch them sitting behind a desk.

Brock walked out of the turbo lift into the Operations Centre. The nerve center of the station, and to be honest he hoped he would not have to spend a lot of time here. Brock was not scared as such of Senior Officers but he was a bit of a yes man, and found it difficult to say no and so he found the less interaction he had with them the better.

Brock approached a pretty human Ensign, as he walked in "Can you direct me to the Colonel's office please Ensign."

The Ensign smiled at the new Lieutenant and directed him to his office whilst saying "Over their Sir."

"Thank you, Ensign." Brock returned the smile and hoped to see the Ensign again at some point. He walked towards the office and began to adjust and smooth out his uniform. He had no idea what to expect for the Colonel. He had not had much to do with Marines but he knew their reputation of being hard asses. He pressed the chimer, whilst rubbing the front of his shoe up and down the back of his leg, one last attempt to ensure his shoes were shiny enough.

Drake had been cemented to the spot for the past hour. Four times he had raised his empty coffee mug to his lips, only to be met with disappointment. He had been studying over the Miranda Class and, more specifically, the USS Bretagne - to say he was intrigued would have been a gross understatement. It wasn't until the door chime did he realise how long he had managed to go, uninterrupted.

"Come in." He said, realising it was the perfect time to fill up his mug.

The door to the office opened, Brock did one final adjustment to his uniform and entered. "Lieutenant Brock Johnson reporting as ordered, Sir." Brock decided his first meeting with the Station Commander should be a formal one. After all he was a Colonel in the Marines. Certainly, the most military arm of Starfleet and with a history that goes back centuries. He stood to attention with his eyes looking forward.

"Ah Lieutenant, please take a seat" he motioned to the chair as he got up and headed towards the replicator. He had, for the first time since arriving on the station, actually looked at the incoming personnel manifests and had noticed security were getting particularly bolstered with this wave... and not before time, too.

"Would you like anything?" He asked as he replaced the empty mug with a full one.

"No Sir, am fine thank you." Brock took a seat and wished he was more comfortable when around senior officers. He tried to look calm and relaxed but knew that his body was rigid and tense. He did look towards the Colonel, and was surprised, he was younger than he expected. Brock started to loosen his uniform around the neck line, a nervous habit.

Sitting back down behind his desk he placed the, now full, mug onto it and tugged at his tunic. "So tell me, Lieutenant, what brings you to Vanguard?" He found himself asking virtually everyone he met the very question - it wasn't one that was needed on a starship, but seemed incredibly relevant on a space station for some reason.

Brock paused for a seconding thinking about his response, he thought about the adventure, the excitement, being a Detective on a mini city on the frontier he imagined it being like the wild west, but he was not going to say any of that. "Well Sir, I heard some very positive things about the personnel here and I know it is a busy place for Security with all sorts of incidents occurring. I like to be busy and feel I can make a difference."

"That's certainly true! I think Lieutenant Michaels will be glad of the help - he's had a rather heavy workload of late!" He smiled, reflecting on the heavy use of investigations recently - first the SS Silent Night and now Section 49 Alpha, so much death uncovered in such a short space of time.

"So, have you always been in investigations?" He said, taking an apprehensive first sip from his new cup of steaming coffee.

"Not always, Starfleet send you where they want you and this is not always what you want. But I think they do that so you are aware of all positions within Security. Investigations is the area I specialise in, I love this type of work and I am looking forward to getting stuck in. My last position was investigating officer on Earth, I was stationed at London but the job took me all over." Brock began to relax just a little.

"Ah London" Drake beamed. "How did you find it?" He was pleased to be speaking to someone from a different continent... sometimes it seemed as if most of Starfleet was comprised of Americans!

“I loved London, the old, the new, the history and of course arguable the birth place of the modern serial killer.” Brock smiled as of course was referring the still infamous Jack the Ripper. Even with modern technology and investigative techniques the ripper had still not been discovered. “My family tree has ties to London from the 18th Century before my great, well many greats Granddad was one of the first prisoner sent to Australia.” Brock realised he was waffling and stopped talking and loosened his neck line again.

"That's fascinating, Lieutenant" He said as he took a customary sip of coffee. "So, is there anything I can do to help you settle in on Vanguard? Have you met Lieutenant Michaels yet? He's your counterpart and we've had a great need for him of late!".

Drake went onto explain the unusually high use of the Security Investigations department over the past six months before the two parted ways. As Drake settled back into his historical research into the USS Bretagne he sighed... something about Johnson made him think he wouldn't be around for long!

 

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