The mission briefing lasted for an hour which consisted mainly of meeting the Quanah Parker's command crew and a rehashing of the their brigade commander had told them. Kyle kept having trouble concentrating as a result of meeting one gorgeous knockout named Maria Markson. From the first glimpse of her Auburn hair and hazel eyes, he felt that he'd been smitten down to his knees, and the feeling worried him. He had been in love before, before Star Fleet, before his company command, but a renegade Klingon's D’T’ahk had ended that love. Two human pirates had held him back while the Klingon leader had first raped then cut the throat of his love.
After shaking his head to clear away the horrific picture, Kyle walked back to his cabin, where he walked over to the computer terminal. "Computer," what came out was a dry croak. He swallowed, and then tried again. "Computer."
What may I do for you Captain DeVais? The computer inquired.
Kyle paused to phrase the question. "Would it be possible to see Lieutenant Joel Wright's personnel file?"
The computer thought it over a few minutes before replying, ** Yes Captain, how much would you like to see? **
Kyle absently ordered the whole file shown and settled in to read it, page by page. When he was finished, he disengaged the viewer and leaned back in his chair, thinking about how an orphan could get into Star Fleet and rise to a position of power on a fleet intelligence ship. And just as interesting, his psyche profile showed no hatred of the Orion's that had killed his parents, even going so far as to save the life of and befriend an Orion soldier on Driax III.
Now, that's interesting. It's not what I expected. He thought. He either got help, or he's one cool customer. DeVais leaned back in his chair and thought back to the gangplank. Wright had been willing to arrest any Marine that dared cross that entryway without permission from his Commanding Officer, and he had known that Markson would have backed him up, all the way up to the Commanding General of the Corp, or the Admiral in charge of the Fleet Intelligence service. I'll bet he's cool under fire, he's not afraid of much. "He'd have made one hell of a marine. I wonder why he didn't apply." He muttered out loud.
Then a thought crossed his mind and he reached across the desk. "Computer, can you access Fleet Marine application files?"
Of course, Captain DeVais. Input Search Parameters.
That's more like it. The Marine thought. "Lieutenant Joel Wright. It would have been about eight to ten years ago." When the computer pulled up the information, DeVais blinked. That was quick. He thought. After reading the file, he leaned back, "He applied to General Zonea four years ago, and was turned down." Well, crap, that's the Corps loss. He would have made a fantastic operator. If his file is any indication, he'd be this generations Chesty Puller.
