Observe and Honor

         Edison and his unit received the order at 0700 hours the next morning. Report to the Atlantis ship's galley for a special mission briefing from Captain Greene and his first officer. The starship would be leaving drydock within the day to embark upon their mission and once underway they'd be making a beeline at maximum warp straight for the Romulan frontier.

       Standing in the galley at parade rest, Edison, Sergeant Grogan and the others awaited the arrival of Jack Greene. They weren't used to taking orders from somebody who wasn't wearing a military uniform and Balthazar knew that this wasn't going to sit well with a few of his men. He'd be hearing about it in private later in the day. But General Casey had given them all explicit orders to follow the instructions and command example of Captain Greene and to obey all Starfleet rules and regulations while stationed aboard Atlantis. If the mission was indeed a success as they'd all been training for and hoping they'd live to complain another day. A small price for soldiers to pay to win the victory and earn the opportunity to go home.

       "Where the hell is he, sir?" Private Alex Cantoran grumbled as he was often prone to do. "Starfleet could learn a thing or ten from the MACOs about punctuality and discipline."

       "You have a hot date or something, Mister?" Edison was torn between admiring Cantoran's youthful brashness and dressing him down for openly criticizing their de facto CO without first being granted permission.

       "Only to get out into space and beat the asses of these Romulans, sir. The sooner Captain Greene finishes the briefing the sooner we can get there and do it."

       "Show a little patience, Private. The trip out to the Romulan border isn't going to be some one-day pleasure excursion to the beaches of Nassau. You're going to have to do a little waiting no matter when Captain Greene decides to shows up."

      "Sir, if you don't mind me asking, how did you tolerate serving on Enterprise? Starfleet officers don't understand the military mindset and they sure as hell don't see the world the way we do."

       "Correction: some don't. Most, perhaps. But Jonathan Archer turned into one of the most disciplined and determined men with whom I've ever served. He saved Earth. We all did. That took teamwork, not petty squabbling and nitpicking the other members of our crew because they don't happen to wear the same uniform. Now get your ass in gear and remember we have orders."

       The galley door slid open and Captain Greene and his first officer, the decidely stern but youthful Commander Benjamin Frederick, strode into the room and stopped in front of Edison and his men, the Captain asking his second-in-command for the padd containing the mission briefing. Frederick handed the padd to Greene, who keyed the display to life. "Gentlemen."