The Family Business
Posted on 11 Aug 2023 @ 2:24pm by Chief Petty Officer Ibis Xeri & Corporal Eric Minton
Mission:
M4 - Falling Out
Location: "Marine country" Reception Hall
Timeline: immeddiately following "Hasperat First"
981 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure
As Syimmi moved aside to speak with someone else at the reception, Ibis’ field of vision was a little less obstructed, letting her take in the other attendees. Her attention remained a little more focused as she picked her way through the samplings on the plate, the act of eating and experience of tasting a kind of grounding in her physical body.
Ibis noticed someone furtively looking at her and away again, several times. It seemed he was halfway turned, as if he wanted to close the few feet between them and say something. It was strange to think of the strapping young man as possibly shy. He was almost six feet tall, and someone definitely had fed him enough protein growing up, Ibis thought, certain from the size of his neck in the uniform collar that even his muscles had muscles.
The young man, on glancing back again, accidentally locked eyes with the little betazoid.
It suddenly felt more uncomfortable not to introduce himself to their special guest. "Hi, I'm Corporal Eric Minton."
"Ibis Xeri."
"I know, Chief. Everybody knows. It's the biggest thing happening.” They’d had a funeral for the Marine Doctor, Mazur, and the mood had been heavy. It was confusing too, in a sense, to process a Marine dying of childbirth, of all things. So they were primed for the news that Major Finn was returning with a lost marine brother. Everyone had welcomed something more triumphant to share. “Recovering a missing Marine and his family? After nine years of holding out? You guys are already legendary around here."
Ibis wasn't sure what to say to that. "We're just the survivors. We didn't make this family. The island made this family." She wasn't sure why she said it that way. She was only trying to clarify, but it came out strangely, full of her own fresh new doubts, and sullied with the guilt of standing here, eating snack food without Olivia and Ikemba's parents and all of the crew she felt deserved this.
Eric swallowed, his adam’s apple bobbing. He wanted to share something with her. He felt there was something deeply held in common between them, but at the same time, he knew it didn’t exactly equate. He was afraid it would sound petty, or like he was trying to measure his experience up to theirs. He waited a moment, thinking maybe because she was Betazoid, she might prompt him to say something, but when she just stared uncomfortably back at her food, he found his courage himself.
"You don't know me from anybody. But I lost my dad. I wasn’t much older than him, when it happened." Eric motioned to Ikemba.
Ibis' heart broke along a faultline. She could suddenly picture this man as a small child, left fatherless. "I'm very sorry."
"Sergeant Daniel Graeber, 3rd Regiment of the 4th Battalion.” Eric named him proudly. “He was raising me as a single father after my mother passed away, so he brought me along on the USS Aquarius."
"Graeber? Didn't you say your name was Minton?"
"Yes ma’am. That's right." Eric nodded, but continued since it required a little explanation why he ended up with a new name. "Our ship was captured and my dad, he gave his life fighting the boarding parties. My best friend on the ship, David, lost his father the same day. Our fathers were best friends, on the same fire team and... anyway... I was adopted by the ship's MCO, Captain Alex Minton. He sheltered me when the crew was dumped on a jungle planet. Captain Minton was bitter about being told to stand down and surrender. But the Rear Admiral, he secured some kind of a negotiation. He didn’t want to sacrifice more of the crew fighting and instead, gave up the ship.”
“I see.” Ibis tried to follow along, thoughtfully.
“It wasn't like your situation though. There were hundreds of us. Well organized, without any remaining enemy forces. We had some technology left to us, a few broken shuttles, and an entire Engineering department who knew how to use the parts. We were stranded just a few months. It was just some camping out. But David and I got it in our heads that we should both have a mom and a dad. And since he had Lieutenant Jyn, and I had Captain Minton, it was some gradeschool level math right there. We were sneaky about it, getting the Fleetie that had taken David in to spend time with Captain Minton."
"I'm sure they appreciated that."
"They've been married thirteen years now!"
"No! It worked?"
Eric smiled as Chief Xeri did, pleased to see that his happy ever after family tale seemed to cheer her up. "We even got a kid sister out of the deal. Izzy. She's ten. A total princess. David works here on the station. We don’t talk as much as we used to. But he knows I’ve got his back.”
“Is he a Marine too?”
“No. ‘Concierge’. In Civilian Affairs.” Eric said the word mockingly, in a very pseudo fancy way. “David didn’t want to go into the family business with me. Didn’t even want to join the fleet like Mom.”
“It is a risky business, for families.”
Eric shrugged. Most of the time it was just drills, drills, drills. Not everyone was stationed on an active frontline somewhere. It wasn’t like they ran into the maw of death every other day. But when they did… “It’s like my teammate, Syimmi over there always says. ‘In dying, life giving’. Someone has to show up, ready for the fight. Otherwise, we lose it all. My parents did, and I can’t see a better way to spend my life. It all works out, somehow.”
“...Somehow.” Ibis echoed, with wavering certainty.
