<USS Avalon> A New Understanding

"A New Understanding"
By: Lt. Jg Patrick McEntire and Ensign Annabelle Chase
 
Mac sat in the lounge nursing his drink and waiting for word. He knew  
Marksbury would be talking to Josh soon, and hoped that, somehow, it would make 
 a 
difference. Something had to. He couldn't keep going on like this.
 
Walking into the lounge, Mac wasnât hard to miss. He was a big lug of a guy  
and damn good looking. Annabelle walked over to where he was sitting and 
slipped  into the seat in front of him. âHeâs going to give himself a 
goddamn 
heart  attack!â
 
Gesturing for a drink to be  brought to Annabelle, Mac looked at her  
miserably. "Josh?" he asked, hoping he was wrong, but doubting it.
 
Annabelle nodded. She was worried about Josh, and so was Mac, that was  
clear. The poor man looked miserable. âWhat are we going to do?â 
 
"Damned if I know," he admitted, staring into his drink. "Talked to Anna  
earlier. She got the great idea to go to Marksbury about it. I'm kind of 
wishing  
we hadn't, though. I'm not so sure that bringing more people he doesn't 
really  know into this is a good plan." 
 
âYou went to Jameson before coming to me?!â Annabelle asked rather loudly.  
Who the hell was this woman to Josh? Why did Annabelle suddenly wanna kick her 
 ass? âWhat the fuck did you do that for?â
 
"Whoa, back it up. She came to me about it. She sort of noticed on her  own," 
he told her, pulling her back into her seat.
 
Annabelle allowed Mac to help her back into her chair, and then looked down  
at the table. âSorry.â She said softly. âItâs just that heâs scaring 
me. Iâ
ve  never seen him like this and Iâve seen a lot of his.. um.. quirks. I feel 
so  helpless.â
 
 Mac nodded. "Me too," he admitted. "I'd seen him at his worst...I  thought. 
Before now."
 
Great, they were both utterly helpless. Tears welled in Annabelleâs eyes,  
but she didnât want to shed them. She and Josh were just reconnecting as  
friends, but she was acting as if she were his girlfriend or something. âWhat 
is  
Marksbury going to do?â
 
 "Talk to him. Reach him somehow. I hope." He finished his drink and  ordered 
another. He looked at his chronometer. "She should be talking to him by  now, 
I think."
 
Annabelle sipped at her drink. Her mind racing, trying to grasp at an  
answer, a fix it all. Slowly she looked up at Mac, her voice a little stronger. 
 â
Does she truly understand what youâve sent her?â
 
Mac sighed. "Not likely. I doubt most people do, to be honest. Until you've  
shared space with him awhile, you've got no clue what the hell you're up  
against. I kind of think her and Anna thought she'd just wield her power and  
he'd 
cave. Him being such a mouse and all, right?" 
 
Annabelle laughed despite herself. Josh was one of those cases where  
appearances are deceiving. Sure he was shy, and he was withdrawn, but he was 
far  
from being a mouse. âI guess theyâll both learn.â
 
Mac smiled, shaking his head. "Maybe. We have to hope so, anyway."
 
âWhat if she canât help? Mac if he holds it all in heâll hurt himself.â 
 
Annabelle didnât normally wear her heart on her sleeve but she couldnât 
help it 
 where Josh was concerned. Sheâd waited so long for him to notice her. It 
seemed  so damned unfair to lose what little theyâd gained. This whole thing 
just 
sucked  to no end. 
 
Mac swallowed hard. He understood her concern. He felt the same way. "He'll  
snap out of this. Don't worry. He's a survivor, right? He lived through hell 
and  made it out, remember." He tried hard to sound confident. Of course, he 
failed  miserably.
 
Annabelle looked Mac right in the eyes. âHe lived through it with his  
brother.â
 
Mac nodded again. He'd thought of that, too. "Yeah, well...it's not like  
he's alone, though, right? I mean...he's got us now. Right?" 
 
âYou know that and I know that, but Josh just doesnât get it.â Annabelle  
said as she finished off her drink. âIâd tell him how I felt but I donât 
think  
heâd know what I was talking about.â
 
Mac slammed another drink. Again, it would seem she was right. Rising, he  
turned to Annabelle. "He ever show you where they came from?"
 
Annabelle shook her head before looking up at Mac. âWe never connected the  
way I would have liked to back at the academy. I didnât get the guts to try  
something until we both ended up here. So far weâve only had one date if you  
could call it that.â
 
Slamming down the credits for the drinks, he took her by the hand. "Come  on. 
I wanna show you something."
 
Without a word, or a second glace at the small group of women in the corner  
fawning over the mere sight of Mac, Annabelle followed him out of the lounge 
and  down the hall. âWhere are we going?â
 
 "Holodeck," he answered simply, guiding her out. At holodeck two, he  loaded 
Josh's program. "Okay...brace yourself. This isn't pretty," he warned her  as 
the doors open and he led her in.
 
The holodecks plain patterns had given again to dark must caves. Annabelle  
could hear the sound of screaming, little kid screaming. As soon as Annabelle  
was fully inside the smell of death, rotten rancid meat, and burning flesh hit 
 her like a brink wall. That on top of the heat and high gravity made 
Annabelle  instantly sick. 
 
Mac held her while she threw up, then drew her into the nearest alcove as  
the large lizard-like men things stormed past. "I warned you to brace 
yourself," 
 he whispered.
 
Annabelle looked around as best she could. âThis place is real? This is  were 
Josh grew up?â
 
Mac nodded, trying hard not to lose his own lunch. "Yup...this is the  place. 
Welcome to the mines of Taursus."
 
She couldnât say she understood Josh completely, but definitely a little  
better. How could you not have issues coming from a place like this? Itâs no  
wonder he was so close to his brother, they would have needed each other to get 
 
out of here. The tears that Annabelle had fought back before in the lounge now 
 feel freely. âThis has to be hell.â
 
"That's what I've always called it. He usually enters with the safeties  off, 
but I wouldn't recommend it."He paused, gathering himself. He watched as  the 
lizard-like men dragged a boy back the way they'd originally come. He  
couldn't have been more than ten, thin and ragged, bleeding from wounds already 
 
starting to fester. Shaking his head, Mac told her quietly once they were out 
of  
earshot," he still dreams of it at nights."
 
Annabelle watched as the lizard man drug the boy away. She lurched out,  
wanting to grab the boy to pull him to safety but Mac held her back. At the  
sound 
of the boyâs screams, Annabelle buried her face into Macâs chest. She  
could 
see why Josh would have night mares, she was bond to have a few herself. 
 
"Come on," He told her, once they'd gone past. He snuck her through the  
maze, dodging the lizard creatures off and on until they'd reached the center.  
There below them, in a large pit, was a hundred or so boys of many different  
races, all ragged and half starved, scurrying in and out of the small tunnels,  
digging for and dragging out the deadly Borite ore.
 
âThose crystals.â Annabelle gasped in a hushed whisper. âItâs 
Borite.â Her  
mind was suddenly racing again. Was the Federation getting the Borite they 
used  from child labor mines? Did they know this was going one? âMac, I 
donât  
understand. How can this be real?â Annabelle was young and idealist. It felt  
like all kinds of bubbles were being popped in her mind. 
 
"Wait for it," Mac said, pointing down to the farthest corner. A tiny  little 
blonde boy crawled out of the farthest tunnel, coughing and gagging. A  tall, 
rail thin boy, half covered in dirt and blood, his long dark curls hanging  
just past his shoulders, picked up the small child and set him in a tiny  
turnout, out of the way, then crawled into the tunnel himself to finish the 
work  
the smaller one had begun.
 
Annabelle watched the two small  boys. Her eyes growing larger as it  dawned 
on her who she was watching. She sank to her knees, unable to look away.  â
Zack was his life line and now heâs gone.â
 
 Mac nodded. "See...you get it now. It only gets worse the longer you  watch. 
I know. I've come here and done just that." As if to prove what he said,  a 
small band of bigger boys found the tiny blonde. As if they'd discovered a  
great new sport, they began shoving him from one to another, each hitting him 
as  
he came toward them. Within moments, the dark haired boy came very nearly 
flying  out of the tunnel toward the others. He snapped the first ones neck 
with 
his  bare hands as he passed him, kicking the boy directly across in the chest 
hard  enough to shove his sternum into his lungs as he grabbed the little 
blonde and  put him behind him, as though daring the remaining two to try to go 
through him  to get him. 
 
âWhoa shit!â Annabelle hissed in her whispered voice. Sheâd known that 
Josh  
had some major skills when it came to combat, but sheâd never seen him do 
that.  It did explain his hesitance however. He hated having to face off with 
someone  in their combat classes. The scene before her, scared the hell out of 
Annabelle.  Not because the little boy had just killed, but because she knew 
what, who he  was killing for. âHe fought for his brotherâs life not his 
own.â 
She looked at  Mac with an even more pained expression the sheâd shown up 
with. 
âIf he thinks  heâs lost his reason to fight for life, Mac, weâre going 
to 
lose him.â
 
 Mac kept watching, but nodded. He knew. Somehow, he couldn't shake  the 
feeling that they already had.
 
âPlease, Mac, no more.â Annabelle said after a long pause. She couldnât  
handle anymore. No more images, no more sounds, no more thoughts. She just  
wanted out and more then anything she just wanted to find Josh. 
 
"Computer, end program." Mac called softly. He rose to his feet as the grid  
reappeared around them. 
 
Though the tears fell freely down her cheeks, Annabelle was managing to  keep 
the deep sobs she felt in the pit of her very being at bay. She stood  
slowly, unsure of what to say or do. She felt like a whirling mess. Finally  
after 
what seen hours she said softly, âI wanna go find him.â
 
 Mac nodded. He thought she might. "Marksbury was going to call him in  this 
morning. They might be done by now."
 
âIâm going to go get cleaned up.â She told him as she looked up at him. 
âI  
know it was only a holoprogram but I need a shower. Thanks Mac.â
Mac  nodded. "Don't worry, I understand. Think I could use one myself." He 
escorted  her out and headed toward his quarters, not sure which he needed 
more. 
A shower,  or another drink. Or maybe just ten minutes with his friend as he 
was before he  lost he reason to live.
 
Annabelle headed back to her quarters, her mind racing, her body numb. She  
was more the glad to see her roommate was still on shift. She climbed into the  
shower and allowed the water to beat down on her for a few minutes before  
sliding down the wall. Annabelle sat there, crouched on her shower floor and  
sobbed because she didnât know what else to do for someone she cared about.

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