The Little Princess

Posted on 16 Sep 2017 @ 2:17pm by Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D.
Edited on on 18 Sep 2017 @ 9:16am

896 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Earth - Starfleet Marine Corps Headquarters
Timeline: MD 33, 1100 hours

[ON]

Inside his office, Brigadier General Otto Lahti stood up from his desk and looked out over the bay. A wiry, wizened old man well past what should have been his retirement age, the Marine had long ago traded the battlefields of various interstellar conflicts and police actions for a desk job in procurement. In spite of his advanced age, into his 80s, 24th century medical technology and an active lifestyle kept him in good health.

As he gazed out over the ocean, pondering once more whether he should finally retire after the next big project, he was interrupted by his yeoman at the door.

"Sir," called out the woman, leaning partway into his office, "there is a strange-looking woman here to see you. She doesn't have an appointment, but--"

It was then that the door violently swung open as said strange-looking woman barged through in her wheelchair. Between the chair, the dark makeup, and the black clothes complete with chains and spiky bits, there was no mistaking who it was.

"Grandpa!" she exclaimed as she approached the general, leaving the confused yeoman slowly backing out of the office.

"Tuula!" he replied, a rare smile appearing on his face as he beamed with pride at his favourite granddaughter, bracing himself for the rolling-start full-body hug he knew was coming. "I didn't realize you were visiting Earth!"

For a moment, Tuula wrapped her arms around her grandfather, holding him tight, before releasing him and looking back up at his face. "I hope I'm not interrupting--"

"Nonsense!" he protested, before taking a step over towards the replicator. "Coffee?" he asked. "Colombian or, perhaps Irish?"

"Grandpa, it's eleven in the morning!" protested Tuula. "And at your age--"

"Suit yourself," he replied, cutting Tuula off as she attempted to once again give him unwanted medical advice. Though normally he would have bitten the head off of any junior officer who tried to tell him what to eat or what to drink, he knew that with Tuula, it came from a place of love. She wanted him around for a while. Though he figured his rigorous gym schedule had him covered.

After making it to the replicator, he tapped the screen a couple times, materializing a tray with two coffees -- a Marine standard black coffee for himself, and a latte with a whipped topping and chocolate shavings, served in a skull-shaped mug for his granddaughter.

After placing the tray on his desk near Tuula, he took his coffee behind his desk and opened the bottom drawer, pulling out a bottle of vodka.

"You know, you should be retired by now," started Tuula, starting the customary lecture that perhaps her grandmother may have put her up to. "You've got over fifty years of service, and--"

"Oh please," he countered with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Retire and do what? Sit around, feed the pigeons in the park?"

"Well, maybe do some travelling, perhaps go on a cruise with grandma, or some ice fishing?"

"Fifty years in the Marine Corps; I've been on enough cruises and travelled to enough far-flung planets. Besides, if I retire, I'll have more work to do at home. You know how your grandma watches all those home renovation shows and gets all those ideas..." Trailing off, he took a sip of his drink before looking down once more at his beautiful granddaughter, noticing something different.

"What's that on your neck?" he asked, leaning over to get a better look at some black markings he spotted. "Is that a new tattoo?"

"Yeah," replied Tuula, turning to the side and brushing her hair out of the way for him to get a good look at it. "It's the word 'Resilience' in Finnish runes..."

After leaning in and squinting to examine it, Otto chuckled a little. There was nothing he could think of that could be more fitting. Throughout his years of service, he had seen many men suffer severe injuries in the line of duty. He witnessed fellow Marines being shot, burned and stabbed in combat. They had lost limbs and been left with permanent disfigurements and disabilities, and out of all these big tough Marines, Tuula had shown as much courage as any of them throughout her recovery.

In his eyes, she had more than earned the right to do whatever she wanted with her body, and as long as she was happy, he was happy -- even if she did show up to his office with dark makeup, fishnets, and a neck tattoo.

Of course, he had a couple faded tattoos himself, unit insignias and the like from his years of service. Nothing that he tended to show off, however. "Has your mother seen it yet?" he asked, knowing that his daughter didn't exactly share Tuula's appreciation for her body modifications.

"No, I'm visiting home tomorrow," she replied, before pausing for a second to take a sip of her coffee. "How do you think she's going to take it?"

"Well, you know how your mother is about all this stuff," he replied. While he didn't totally understand all of Tuula's style, he felt he didn't really have to. With his coffee on his desk, he took a step over and placed a hand on Tuula's shoulder. "But you'll always be my little princess..."

[OFF]

--

Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

RSS Feed