Close Protection: Origin

Posted on 15 Oct 2016 @ 11:00pm by Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale

2,069 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: History
Location: San Francisco Bay Area, Docks
Timeline: July 14th, 2380

Admiral David G. Farragut, a male human Security Instructor at Starfleet Academy, walked along the docks of the San Francisco Bay and looked out over the calm waters. "It's come to this," he said as he sat on a bench. "For all my years of service, I get cadet headaches." He sighed and shook his head.

"It could be worse," a female voice said as movement to his left attracted his attention to a short, red headed woman who looked at him as if he were a Ktarian chocolate puff. "You could be out of service entirely with nothing to show for it." She told him as she approached.

Farragut searched his memory but couldn't place the woman and cleared his throat. "True, but I'd like to be alone," he said as he started to come to his feet. A firm hand clamped down on his right shoulder and pushed him down on the bench again.

"Stay for a while, Admiral Farragut," a deep male voice said from the shadows.

The Security Instructor immediately brought his left arm around to grip the wrist even as he started to lean forward for a body flip/throw and found that the woman now stood in front of him and had a phaser trained on him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she said. "There's also one trained on the back of that head of yours. There's two of us, one of you, and we have our weapons ready. You're old, of no use in active service and you have made quite a few enemies. I'm one of them."

"I don't even know you!" David said as he felt his left hand removed from the wrist still on his shoulder.

"You should," the woman said. "You got my parents arrested on Betazed for attempting to broker a deal."

The Admiral paused and tried to think. "Betazed? You mean the incident with the real estate swindle operation that was illegally selling land to off worlders?"

The hand on his shoulder tightened and the male leaned closer. "That deal, Admiral," he growled. "Was the last hope I had of getting my family off a shithole world in the Demilitarized Zone that we had been abandoned to by the Federation."

Cadet Junior Grade Joelle Corwin made her way along the docks. She wasn't too far from campus, nor was it past curfew yet. After the incident her freshman year, she'd cleaned up her act and buckled down as far as her studies went. Nothing was going to come between her, or the career she hoped to have. Her future was bright, and it was thanks to Admiral Farragut. Without him and the tough love he showed her, there was no telling where she'd be right now.

She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jeans and came to a stop to look out over the bay. This was where she came when she needed to think and clear her head. It definitely beat going to meet up with individuals who were definitely a bad influence on her or doing things a young woman like her had no business doing in the first place.

Joey closed her eyes and took in a breath of fresh air, cocking her head to the side when she heard voices. They weren't close enough for her to make out what they were saying, but she definitely heard something, and it didn't sound like things were going well for one of them. With a frown, she looked around to find a place to take cover so she could hear better. It didn't take long before she found a shadowed area that would be perfect thanks to the dark clothing she wore. It was far enough away she'd be able to see what was going on without going detected, but close enough she'd be able to hear what was going on.

With her nerves on edge, she carefully made her way to the area she chose to hunker down and peered in the direction where the three individuals were. Her blood ran cold the second she realized that one of them was Admiral David Farragut, the very man who could have very well saved her life. There were two other people with him, and they both appeared to be holding something. By the looks of them, they were holding phasers. This situation had gone from bad to worse, and now she needed to come up with a plan to help save the man who saved her.

What could she do, though? They had weapons, and she had... she felt around in her pockets to pull out a pack of gum, some chap-stick and a couple strips of latinum. None of that was going to do her any good. Joey muttered a curse and stuffed the items back into her pockets, then looked around her surroundings. There wasn't much she could use for a weapon, but she spotted a metal pole that could work. The only issue she faced now was to try to get to them without being caught. You can do this, Joey. Admiral Farragut needs you, or he's going to die. You don't want that to happen.

"No Federation citizen was abandoned in the Demilitarized Zone," Farragut said sternly. "Every last being had an opportunity to leave the worlds that had been ceded to the Car..." His words were cut off as the man behind him smacked him with something blunt and he fell off the bench.

"The time for propaganda is long past, just like your time, Admiral," the woman snarled before she kicked him in the ribs, eliciting a grunt of pain from the aging Admiral. "You cost my mother her life, and I'm going to take yours."

The man came out from behind the bench and looked down at Farragut. "The world that Captain Benjamin Sisko detonated two quantum torpedoes that scattered trilithium resin in the atmosphere of Solosos Three and made the planet uninhabitable to all human life for the next fifty years. My wife was still on the planet at the time!"

Joey swallowed a lump in her throat. The time to act was now, or the Admiral really was going to die. She had no time to waste, and with her options currently limited to her, she backed her way from the shadowed area she was hiding out in, deciding her best option would be to circle around behind them. They'd have no chance of seeing her since their backs would be in her direction.

Please, please, let this work, she prayed, circling around behind them. Someone was in need, and she'd do whatever it took to see to it that he came out of this alive. Even if it meant losing her own life to save his. Raising the metal pole above her head when she neared them, she took a deep breath and brought it down with only enough force to render him unconscious to the back of the man's head.

The unknown male went down like a sack of potatoes and hit the ground, his phaser clattering to the ground beside of him.

When her father went down, the woman immediately swept the area where he had been standing with the phaser and brought it to bear on the young, statuesque woman she saw there with a pipe. "You bitch!" she screamed. "All you Federation people are the same! Kill without finding out what's going on!"

On the ground, Admiral Farragut scrambled for the fallen phaser in a desperate bid to get to it before his unknown savior was vaporized.

"No... you're the bitch," Joey snarled. She was close enough to her and was running on pure adrenaline to keep the Admiral safe. With a growl, the young woman kicked out a foot at the assailants wrist in an attempt to knock the phaser away. Once that task was done, she'd have an easier time to rendering her unconscious so she and the man could be brought up on charges.

Certain that the other woman would do anything but attack, the woman was utterly surprised when the foot connected with her wrist and broke it, sending the phaser flying. She screamed, then dove for the one that Admiral Farragut was trying to get to and kicked him in the ribs again. "No! I will not be denied!"

"You're already been denied," Cadet Corwin said, lunging at the other woman's midsection to knock her off of her feet. Seeing her kick Farragut in the ribs like she did enraged the young woman, and now keeping him safe was so high on her list that nothing else mattered. She gripped her broken wrist and wrenched it behind her back. "Enough!"

The woman screamed again and gasped for air as the pain from her wrist send waves of agony to her nervous system and she collapsed to her knees.

Admiral Farragut recovered the other phaser and brought it up, then looked at the setting and nearly laughed before going to recover the other and checked it as well. When he had both, he came into the light where Joey was holding the woman and saw who it was. "Cadet Corwin?"

Keeping her hold on the woman, Joey looked up at the Admiral. "Are you okay, Admiral Farragut?" she asked, getting the other woman to her feet and sitting her down on the bench. If she was smart, she wouldn't go anywhere, and if she did... the cadet would be hot on her heels.

Farragut reached into an inner pocket and pulled his combadge out and tapped it. =^=Farragut to Security. Come to Pier Eight. Two to remand to custody. Out=^= He sighed and looked at Joey. "Young woman," he said as he held his ribs with his free hand after depositing the phasers in a outer coat pocket. "I thank you for the timely rescue."

The woman spat at Farragut's feet and sneered. "Rescue? She snuck up on my Dad and broke my wrist!"

"You," Joey shouted, pointing her finger at the woman on the bench, "don't get to talk. You and your father physically assaulted a Starfleet Admiral. Keep your mouth shut and wait until Security shows up to take you both into custody." She turned her attention to Farragut and offered him a smile. "You're welcome, Admiral. I'm just glad I was around at the time."

Farragut looked at the woman in disgust and then down at the still unconscious man, then back at Joey. "You know, the way you handled this....I'm going to make a suggestion to you, Cadet Corwin and I want you to think long and hard on it. There's a special branch of Security called the Close Protection Division. It's a group of highly trained Security personnel who are assigned to individuals such as myself to protect them against any would-be assassins, kidnappers, etcetera. I think you'd be good for that division and I don't make this suggestion lightly."

Joey blinked, unable to believe what she was hearing. "What do I need to do?"

Four Security personnel showed up at that time and the Admiral switched to a different mode and ordered the two taken into custody until he was able to make a full report, assuring them that he would be there soon. He turned back to Joey once the others had gone. "Keep important people alive," he said simply. "Nothing more, nothing less. Of course, there's more training to be done, but if you can turn yourself around the way you have since that drunk cadet who puked on my shoes three years ago, you can do the extra training."

The young woman blushed when the incident her freshman year was brought up. She'd done her best to forget about that, but it seemed the Admiral had not. Though, now, he was offering her the opportunity of a lifetime, and she'd be a fool if she didn't take it. He was recommending her for a special branch of Security that not everyone got the chance to do. "Protecting people is something I've always wanted to do," she said with a smile. "I'd be honored, and I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen."

"Then come with me, Cadet Corwin," Farragut said as he headed for his transport. "You have a future to meet."

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