Meeting the New Gunslinger

Posted on Fri May 14th, 2021 @ 5:58am by Micheal Robertson & Angel Ramirez
Edited on on Fri May 14th, 2021 @ 6:21am

Mission: Mission 13: Stowaway
Location: SS Mary Rose, Armory Chief's office
Timeline: (Immediately following "Setting up Shop...Again")
1854 words - 3.7 OF Standard Post Measure

“Not much to tell,” Angel said. “Born in Havana. Raised back and forth between Havana and Miami, depending on which side of the family I was staying with. My parents were both Fleeters. It goes back in my family. So there was a strong expectation I would go to the Academy. So like the good boy I am, I did. I did okay. Did very well in the PT and tactical aspects. I wasn’t so good with academics, though. Graduated middle of the class, ready to get out of there. I’d hoped for a bit more freedom on a starship.”

Angel sipped his water. “I was posted on the Vindicator. The CO was a real bastard, one of those pendejos with a perfectionist stick up the butt. One thing about your uniform out of order, that kind of guy. Seemed to like to find an excuse to put crew in the brig or confine to quarters. Everyone walked on eggshells. Lots of turnover.

“Well, he had this chihuahua, yippy little thing. Everyone was afraid of the beast. Liked to bite ankles, everyone was the enemy, and if you ever did anything to it, you’d bring down the wrath on your head. The little beast had run of the bridge during normal operations.

“So I was on bridge duty, and the little bastard was biting at my ankle -- I had to replace so many damn pairs of pants -- and I was trying to shove him away with my foot. I really just wanted to kick him into the viewscreen. But that wasn’t working. So I pulled out some spicy jerky I had in my pocket. We weren’t really supposed to have food or drink on the bridge, and the bastard was stingy with bathroom breaks, too, but everyone usually snuck something in their pockets for when the captain was in his ready room and they could sneak something to stay awake.

“So I had this jerky my mother had sent, and this was spicy stuff, we’re talking like ghost pepper shit. So I tossed it to the dog, and he gobbled it up. Almost immediately he started whining, and he went back to the captain’s chair and curled up in the captain’s lap. We had peace for about an hour, and then the dog started whining again. Before the captain could figure out what was wrong, the dog started shitting all over him!” Angel laughed. “He couldn’t get that ghost pepper out fast enough! We’re talking some real explosive diarrhea here, jefe! I swear some even hit the helm officer! Who knew such a small dog was so full of shit!

“Needless to say, I spent the next week in the brig. I was due to re-up, but decided to take the exit out of Starfleet and go freelance. It’s pretty common out here in the black, ex-Fleeters, the ones who don’t have the starry look in their eyes and can see shit for what it really is.” He shrugged and sipped his water.

“So I worked freight runs, and personal security, until I finally hooked up with Blackwatch. It’s a private security and intelligence company run by a family of ex-Fleeters and Marines. They hooked me up with the Mary Rose.”

Micheal was quiet as he listened, taking everything in. When Angel finished speaking, the Texan frowned. "I'm sorry you had such a bad time in the fleet. I certainly had my own run-ins with people who shouldn't be officers, let alone in command positions. One of the reasons I left Starfleet myself." He took a drink from his coffee before continuing.

"Well, I'm glad to have you aboard. As I said earlier, if both the Boss and XO allowed you in here, then they see that you have a place here. Myself, I've only got a few rules. One, do your job to the best of your ability. Two, never go off on your own. If you have a problem, you can bring it to me, any time, any day. And three, the first round is always on me." He grinned when he finished speaking.

Angel smiled. “I can live with those rules, jefe,” he said with a chuckle, lifting his water. “Now if we can just get the rest of the crew to not run off on their own. But then, I could never get anyone in Starfleet to do that, either,” he admitted.

Micheal chuckled. "Yeah. I, myself, need to stop running off." He took a sip of his coffee and continued. "Let me tell you a bit of my story. See, before joining the crew of the Rosie, I was a retired Starfleet noncom turned bounty hunter. Once we get to know each other better, I'll tell you the story. Anyways, I joined the Rosie and took the position that I have now, with the agreement with the Boss that, should a bounty come my way, I can pursue it, so long as it doesn't endanger the ship."

Sitting back in his chair, he took another sip and kept speaking. "I took a few jobs here and there, and kept doing my job here. Unfortunately, during a brief shore leave, the ship's navigator, Dixoho Saa, and myself were abducted and tortured. Apparently, another bounty hunter that I had tangled with in the past had been hunting me." His face and mood turned very dark as he spoke of the experience. "As I said, both Di, eh, Miss Saa and myself were tortured." He hoped Angel didn't catch the note of affection towards Di.

"Miss Saa was injured more deeply than I was, though I had my own severe injuries. Thankfully, before we were killed, Cap'n and the crew found and rescued us. I managed to finally kill the bounty hunter in question, but his accomplice got away." The Texan shook his head as he spoke. "I got a tip a few weeks later and took off after it. Mister Anderson, one of the ship's pilots, came with me. Good kid, Johnathan Anderson. He's one of the original Ishimura crew survivors, I'm sure you've heard about them."

"Anyway, John and I went after the other scumbag, a Chameloid, by the way. We found her hiding out on some small mining moon out near Tricarus III. Once she was eliminated, we headed home, but, home had been pulled into the damn mirror universe, but, I won't go over that. Later, after we got back home and started to put the pieces back together, while Di was still in recovery, I, um, got word of another bounty that I couldn't turn down." Clearly uncomfortable about this particular topic, the large Texan was silent for a few beats.

"Anyway," he shook his head, as if to clear a bad memory. "I left, John offered to come with me, and we headed out. A few weeks later, we found the target, I beamed aboard his shuttle, we fought, and he activated some kind of drive unit that opened a wormhole, which pulled us to the Andromeda galaxy. The second time I was pulled into that hell hole. The past year, I've been trying to find my way home, only to stumble across an, apparently, unstable wormhole that shot me back. Thankfully, the Rosie was nearby and saved me." Sighing, he concluded. "And now, here we are."

Angel kept quiet as his new boss talked. When the story finally ended, he gave a low whistle. “An entirely different galaxy?” he asked with disbelief. “You meet any aliens out there?” he wondered. “What happened to the bounty? And where’d he get the wormhole tech?”

Micheal nodded. "Yeah, a few. Just like here, some were good, hard working, decent beings. Others? Well, there certainly isn't a shortage of asshats out there." He grinned slightly as he answered the next question. "Let's just say, he didn't live long enough to escape me again. As for the tech, well, as it turns out, he was from Andromeda. Some races there are by far more advanced in tech than we are. It's one of the reasons that I'm still alive."

“You could make a lot of money with that tech,” Angel said. “I’m sure plenty of people would want to look at it.”

Shrugging, Micheal replied, "It was destroyed during the trip out. My return trip was through that unstable wormhole that popped up in that minefield. The ship I was on was basically just like ours, though the trip scrapped her systems." He then looked over the PADD in front of him. "Anyway. As there are three of us now, I will take the Alpha shift, Leiddem has Beta. That leaves the overnight Charlie shift for you. Will that be an issue?"

“No,” Angel replied. “I know I'm the last man on the totem pole. I sort of expected it.” He gave a wry smile. “It will be better than the twelves we’ve been pulling,” he said with a chuckle. “Not much goes on while we’re in warp, anyway. Hardest part is staying awake sometimes. Thankfully, there is a lot of coffee.”

This made Micheal chuckle. "Yeah, Rosie has some of the best coffee recipes that I have ever seen. I've even tried a few of ‘em." Lifting his mug, he smiled. "But I'm still hooked on this Klingon version." He took a quick belt of it then, after putting it back down on his desk, he gave a word of warning. "Don't try your luck there, Angel. This ship has seen its fair share of danger. Even for a civie freighter."

“Wouldn’t think of it, sir,” Angel assured.

Micheal gave the young man a friendly grin. "Good. Between you and me, I'll be glad to just have a few quiet, no fuss jobs to do for now. Not sure how much adventure I can take right now." He chuckled softly. Then he asked, "So, is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

Angel shrugged. “Not that I can think of, jefe” he told Michael.

Nodding, Micheal stood. Coming around to the front of his desk, he extended his right hand to Angel. "Well then, I look forward to working with you, Angel."

“Gracias, señor,” Angel said, shaking Michael’s hand firmly.

After they released the handshake, Micheal said, "First thing I want you to do, when your next shift starts, is to run through your team and get me a preliminary effectiveness evaluation of each one. I want to make sure that everyone is doing their jobs keeping Rosie and our shipmates safe."

“Yes, sir,” Angel replied.

Micheal nodded. "Carry on, Angel."

After Angel left, Micheal returned to his desk and started the process of getting the administrative side of his work. He knew that it would be late before he was done tonight, so he sent a message to Dixoho, asking if she'd like to have a quick dinner in his office.