this one maybe
"The Ice Queen Cometh"
Marine Captains Matthew Swiftwind S'Ghaladriel, Angelina Coyne and Field
Marshal Mei Quon
Matthew felt as if a hundred little Marine Field Marshals were doing a tango
through his skull as he trudged back to their now combined office. "Guess who's
finally arrived..." he groaned as he threw himself into his chair..
Looking up from the research she was doing on Fitzwilliam Angelina titled her
head as if she were thinking really hard and then teased, "Santa Clause?"
"Ha-ha-de-ha-ha," Matthew sniped. "I wouldn't ask this Santa if you've been
naughty or nice. And don't expect presents if you leave out milk and cookies."
"Blood wine and chocolates actually." She smiled fondly a moment and then
turned serious eyes on Matthew. She studied his eyes for a moment before
finally answering. "The brass?"
"In all her technicolour magnificence, yeah." Matthew pulled up the research
he'd been doing before everything had blown up. "And she's still an ice queen."
The moment he'd said ice queen Angelina knew who he was talking about. "And
what pray tell was our fearless leader doing that she couldn't be contacted
sooner?"
"Apparently, this station has been transmitting a signal that was blocking all
communication to her vessel." It sounded far fetched even to his ears. But then
given what had been happening recently, it also didn't surprise him all that
much.
Bright blue eyes burned an icy flame as they widened. "He blocked commutations
with her? Wow he just gets more and more mad every day."
"Yeah, you're telling me. This veruul has managed to piss off the scariest
woman I've ever met. I don't think he's gonna survive this, you know." Matthew
sighed heavily. "Just so long as I don't end up defending Frankenstein against
murder charges, I don't care what happens to him."
"Oh, I highly doubt that, Captain Swiftwind," the cold, clipped tones of the
Field Marshal said from the door. "I am, after all, too much of an 'ice queen'
to commit such a crime, even in cold blood."
Angelina bolted out of her chair and went to perfect attention with a sharp
salute, a credit to her DI's and Gunny's. "Then you would be showing more
restraint then most of the people on the station, Ma'am."
"That is becoming clear to me." Mei watched with blank-faced amusement as
Matthew followed suit and stood at perfect attention. "Sit, both of you. How
goes the defense?"
"It will go a lot smoother Ma'am once we get past all of Fitzwilliam's
blockades." Angelina reported. "It's becoming clear that most of the stuff that
was given to me in my former role in the case is pure bologna. The only thing
real against her is failure to follow a direct order, and that really shouldn't
have lead to a full court marshal."
"Which orders exactly were the Major supposed to have ignored?" Quon asked, her
dark eyes fixing on Matthew.
Years of training kept him from flinching under that penetrating gaze as he
downloaded the details to a PADD and handed them to the Field Marshal. "Were
you never given the information, ma'am?"
"Not quite." The Field Marshal read the document with growing ire. "This is
unbelievable!"
If her great-grandfather weren't already married Angelina would have hooked him
up with this raging woman. He'd adore the raw fire of her. "Something out of
place, Ma'am?"
"These dates..." Mei was finding it incredibly hard to maintain her Vulcan calm
as she showed Angelina the PADD. "They are false. I was in direct command of
Major Ecitsuj's unit on that mission, not the General. He was commanding
another unit altogether. How has this not been uncovered yet?"
"Err..." Matthew looked over at Angelina. "All the documentation supports the
charges, ma'am."
"Then the documentation is wrong," Mei snapped.
Angelina looked at the PADD. It was the same thing she'd been given as
prosecutor. "Well, we know who changed them, that's not an awful big leap, a
damn tribble could've figured that out, but we still don't know why he's so
hell bent on sending the Major down."
"I do not know. I dislike General Fitzwilliam. He is arrogant and incompetent.
When he was a young man, he applied to be a part of my company and I turned him
down for another," Quon said stiffly.
"Then there's the issue of proving that the official records were tampered with
in the first place," Matthew mused, his mind already ticking over.
Angelina tapped her finger on the desk a moment as she thought things through.
"It should be easy enough for a computer geek to prove, if the Field Marshal
has kept her original orders." She thought a moment longer before asking, "The
Major wasn't that other person was she?"
"No, it was 32 years ago," Mei said as she took a spare seat. "Major Ecitsuj is
38 Earth standard years old. That would have made her four. A little young for
a Marine, don't you think?"
"Her mother perhaps? She's a former drone as well." Angelina asked. "And for
humans, yes, I suppose that's a little young to start training." She grinned
just faintly. "Of course a Klingon child knows how to at least hold a short
sword by then."
"Nah," Matthew said before Quon could say anything. "5 of 12 was in Starfleet,
not the Marines."
"Not an ex-drone, a Human being in need of alteration," Mei told them simply.
"Besides which, her record was impressive. Elizabeth Carter. Now deceased."
Angelina nodded as she growled out a blessing in her head for the fallen
warrior. "Ok, so his grudge isn't over her getting picked over him for an elite
unit. So it's either something personal with the Major or it's because of you
personally Ma'am."
"If his grudge is with me, why target the Major?" Mei blinked. "That is
illogical."
"To coin a common response: he's human," Matthew said with a shrug.
"The man is insanely stupid there's no argument there." Looking down at all the
doctored information she thought through a couple of things. "He wanted to join
and was turned down. The Major was not only accepted she's rumored to be one of
your closer officers. He could see her as having what he wanted. Or I could be
way off base and he's just got a targ up his ass cause she refused his advances
or something."
"What a colourful image," Mei almost laughed, though her lips turned up in a
tiny smirk. "But I highly doubt he would make advances on the Major. Since his
rejection, he has developed quite unseemly leanings toward xenophobia."
"That follows with the charges Captain Wagner has against him," Matthew agreed.
"Maybe that's it. Pure, simple xenophobia. She is one of the most obviously
different officers in the Corps. With the exception of Angelina and yourself."
Angelina looked up towards her forehead. "They're faint but they're there.
Would explain why he wouldn't touch anything in my office." She mused regarding
her ridges. Then she laughed. "Oh he must have loved getting Mère's orders."
"Maybe that's why he went over the edge and attacked Wagner," Matthew offered.
"You know, there are fruitcakes less nutty than him."
She would have laughed if something had stuck her the wrong way. "You know we
kept calling this man crazy and we'll be handing him his defense."
"He would know this," Mei observed. "He is exhibiting more extreme beviour than
normal. Perhaps it is deliberate."
"Now that is going to be hard to prove. If I were prosecuting him I'd want a
fleet of shrinks talking to him around the clock." Sighing Angelina sat back in
her chair and tried to ignore the headache she felt coming on.
"Or maybe he really is this insane." Matthew shrugged. "It's possible, you
know."
Angelina shook her head. "He shouldn't be allowed to get off so easily. What
kind of justice would it be to have him discharged and sent to a nice padded
cell? The man needs to be in a max security Marine penal colony."
"It's going to be hard to prove he's not." Matthew sighed, dragging a hand
through his hair. "But let's do things in order. First get the Major off then
think about how to lock away General Nutcase."
Nodding her agreement Angelina turned to Quon. "May we request your original
orders so that a computer tech can have a look at them?"
"Of course. I will have them sent over immediately." Raising elegantly to her
feet, Field Marshal Quon gave the pair of them deep, penetrating stares. "Win
this case," she warned. She didn't add a threat, but it hung in the air for
everyone's imaginations to do what they could with it. "If you require anything
else, I will be staying in the VIP section."
That part of the station's going to fall off under the wait of all those starts
and pips. "Yes Ma'am." She answered simply. Why did the stars keep threatening
her that way?
"Good. As you were," Quon barked before she strode out.
Matthew slumped back to his chair from the rigid attention he'd been holding
from the moment she'd stood to leave. "Oh what joy," he muttered. "Why do I get
the feeling that this is really two steps forward but one step back?"
"Don't worry, e'lev, your a good dancer you'll master the steps." Floating to
her feet she walked over to him and sat in lap.
"Hello," he laughed, his arms going around her waist automatically. "I seem to
have a beautiful woman in my lap."
Smiling at him she leaned in and kissed him while she played with the tips of
his ears. "I needed the warmth. It suddenly got very cold in here."
"Yes, e'lev, it did." He cuddled her close, occasionally giggling when she
tickled his ears. "Stop it. Angelina, my ears are ticklish."
"Don't you think I know that?" She giggled as she kept playing with the very
tips of his ears.
"Argh!" Shaking his head to try to dislodge her teasing fingers, Matthew slid
his own fingers under her uniform top and started tickling back.
Angelina's giggles grew as she wiggled under his touch. Leaning in once again
she kissed him a little more firmly, her hands sliding around him and holding
him tightly.
"Mmm," he mumbled as he settled back in his chair and returned the kiss with
fervour. Her soft skin was warm under his touch as he pushed his hands up to
brush just the underside of her breasts. "I'jol'au, Angelina. You're so very
beautiful."
"I love you too." She replied softly as she brushed his face softly. "My
handsome pixie warrior. I can't believe I nearly lost you."
