ILLUMINARRPG: (4-1202)- SecO, CPO Steven Hammons-

[Charles Gatling]

Mission: Exogenesis
Day: 4
Stardate: 2446.06.04

(USS Hilary  - Flight Deck-  SecO, CPO Steven Hammons- 1202)

Steven Hammons, Chief Petty Officer in Security wasn't exactly a 'Fleet
Man', anyone would attest to that. He had driven Security Chief Sarsgaard
nearly bananas on Mars until they had finally closed ranks during the Mars
Defense Perimeter exercise. Exercise is of course a loose term considering
that an all out war had been on the brink at the time when President Stiev
Atremi and the CinC had been exposed as instigators behind the Roanoke
conspiracy and Ensigns barely out of the Academy had been found in a
standoff with them.

That had been a dilly of a blow out. Lieutenant Sekal, left in charge at
the time and unable to contact his superiors, with fleets converging on
Earth had been forced to scramble the fighter squadrons to protect sector
001 leaving everyone else on the Red Planet wondering if they would live to
see another day.

Why had Hammons been on his chief's bad side until that point? Because then
as now Steven was a renowned cut-up, card, joker, wise-cracker and party
animal. And he would never have been in the fleet had the Federation not
been desperate for manpower. The initial stages of fleet expansion had
sucked up a large number of beings who had never had their eyes set on the
stars. Hammons had never changed from his youth until this day and being in
security Earth side had been his highest aspiration.

But then he had been swept up in the net, an uncommissioned officer in a
very commission minded fleet. Jared Boyles, his buddy and ex-partner on
Earth, serving on Illuminar and currently Petty Officer first class was
much like him, they weren't career, weren't awfully concerned about
advancement and were enjoying the hell out of their new life.

Steven, unlike Boyles however had found his life mate on the ship, Alaya
now Hammons. She hadn't tried to change him, she loved him as he was,
irreverence, sarcastic wit and all. Did all these traits make Steven a bad
person? No. Did they make him a man out of place? Most definitely.

Commissioned and Career alike saw him as a bad apple, a distraction and
completely lacking in discipline. He was neither the first nor the last
since he actually could be disciplined when he wanted to, unfortunately
displaying it all of the time wasn't his style, it tended to show up when
it was most needed. As for the second... yes, he positively could be a
distraction. How had he avoided the brig on numerous occasions and risen
through the ranks? He had come up big when big was needed starting with
tracking down the Roanoke operative on Mars and busting up their ring then
rising to the challenge numerous times on Illuminar.

Because Hammons you see was an investigator par excellence in the style of
the old gum shoe detective. He could use high tech gadgets when called for
and had but preferred to use his keen mind, sharp eye and penetrating
insights rather than lean on the crutch of technology. He was a throwback,
a Neanderthal in a space age cosmos who unfortunately not only used the
investigative skills of a Mike Hammer but had much the same personality.

So whether you liked him or not, whether you thought he belonged or
deserved to be booted out of an airlock he remained a fixture on a fleet
ship under one of the most demanding Captains imaginable, a Vulcan. Because
in true Vulcan fashion that Captain cared not for personality but results.

Steven's tongue could be used like a rapier, his wit like a challenging
gauntlet but one fact remained... he cared, whether he showed it or not. He
had seen the criminal dregs of society, the results of some of the most
repulsive crimes imaginable in his day due to his chosen profession and
bodies galore. His jokes were a shield, his banter a protective wall to
deflect people's attention from what he was really feeling and thinking.
When he let that out... well, he had nearly beaten a perp to death on Mars
because of it. One day his tongue was bound to get him into trouble,
already had matter of fact a time or two, I'm not talking about that. No,
one day it would get him into really hot water. Hopefully that day will be
a long time in the future.

Steven looked up from the panel as Commander Solice's order came through
and the Edmund Hillary rose from the surface of the charnel house planet
holding a building stuffed with decaying Tellarite corpses and cast a
glance at the viewscreen showing the landmass below. He hadn't taken off
the suit due to the biohazard danger many of the landing party were in from
an unknown contagion. To leave it meant exposing himself and later Alaya.

"We could use the phasers to collapse the building and give them the burial
we couldn't by hand. They deserve that at least."

(Reply: Trei, Temerity, any)

He turned his head to Temerity. "I just smile on the outside Lieutenant,
it's a self-defense mechanism. I've never seen a marine smile but it would
probably look good on you."

(Reply: Temerity)

(Posted by Charles Gatling)


Charles Gatling
Commanding Officer
USS Illuminar
NCC 61240


"The light shines brightest amidst the deepest darkness."
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