Subject: GRAIL: "Last look Back" - "The Gauntlet has been Thrown" (fwd)

--Kirby's quarters--

Jeb stood up and stretched. Sitting around all day wasn't going

to solve anything. With Brinn in Sickbay and the Lieutenant taking care

of the busywork of the squad, Kirby was without oreders, and decided to

make himself social.

He straightened his uniform tunic and stepped out of the door,

and headed for 10-Forward.

--10-Forward--

Kirby stepped inside and surveyed the crowd. He spotted two of

his men in the back, near the windows. They looked over as he entered,

and both men briefly raised their hands to their brows in a casual

salute. Kirby nodded to them, his expression not really changing, until

a young man wearing the rank of Lt.(jg) passed by.

François was in a good mood. They had won, they hardly had any

casualties and most of all, the drinks he had with Epic had gotten to

him. After the Captain's strange exit, François decided to have another=

drink. Getting up, he started heading for the bar when a grim-faced

marine (was there any other kind?) walked into Ten-Forward. As the old

man passed before him, François decided to have a little fun.

"Cheer up old man! We won and even you Marines managed to

succeed!" he said with his usual grin.

Kirby spun towards the kid, his momentary anger making him

forget his rank. "Did you say something, junior?" he asked in a hoarse

voice.

'So this 'vieillard' wants to play tough guy, eh?' François

thought to himself as he stepped up to the Marine. "I said: Even you

Marines managed to succeed."

Kirby moved towards DeMontigny, the differences in their height

making the staredown somewhat comical to an outside observer. "If you

have something to say about the corp, son, don't veil it behind false

civility and bullshit like that. We did our jobs, and one of us didn't

come back. That explains my mood, though I don't know why I'm telling a

little kid like you."

François hadn't thought that he might have lost a friend in the=

battle, but it was too late to back down now. "Maybe because you know

you can't keep up with this 'little kid' and you need to hide behind

excuses."

"I tell you what, kid. You care to put your money where your

mouth is?"

"Sure, 'vieillard'! How about a poker game? You know how to play

poker, right? Meet me in Holodeck 3 after my shift, at 0800 hours."

"Fine. You got yourself a game. And how about we see who's got

a stomach for their booze, huh? You know what snakebites are?"

"Do I know what they are? I practically invented them!"

"Good, good. We'll play, and once I've taken all your money and

drank you under the table, we'll see about your getting to accept us

Marines as your superiors." Kirby spun on his heel and strode out of

ten-forward, his mood brightening a little at the prospect of a good

night of poker and booze.

François watched the marine leave. After a couple of seconds, he=

felt every eye in the joint on him and decided against having another

drink. 'Besides,' he thought to himself as he also left Ten-Forward, 'I

have to find out what the heck are snakebites!'

Joint post by

Jeb Kirby and François DeMontigny

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