<USS Avalon> Nowhere

 
Nowhere
By Captain  Keith Ketchum and Lieutenant First Class Josh Garrity 
Josh dropped silently into the office he'd dubbed "nowhere"  and moved 
directly to the drawer where his charcoal pencil and sketchpad had  been so 
carefully placed. Soundlessly he gathered them up and withdrew into the  far 
corner to 
work feverishly on the drawing he'd begun hours ago, before  leaving to work 
his shift, as though his very life somehow depended upon his  ability to 
complete it. 
Keith had  palmed the crystal and slipped it in his pocket, as he left his 
office.  Walking along the corridor he looked  both directions, waiting for the 
coast to be clear. Once it was he slipped  quietly into a Jefferies tube.  
Moving along he knew of a private office that no one was to know  about.  It 
was 
not listed on the  plans for security reasons.  If the  ship was overtaken, a 
lot of the systems could be routed to this office and ran  from there. 
Sliding the  door open, he slid in.  That's when  he saw someone in the 
corner.  He  knew who it was, based on the staff meetings, but he was the quiet 
sort.  "Mr. Garrity?" 
Josh jumped  up from where he sat cross-legged on the floor, dropping the 
sketchbook and  charcoal pencil to stand at attention. "Sir?" He asked, his 
quiet, slightly  accented voice carrying in it the depths of his incredulity 
that 
he'd been found  here by the captain himself. 
"As you were,  Lieutenant.  I was sure that no one  was to know about this 
location.  But I have heard rumors of your work ethic, so it wouldn't surprise 
me  that someone would come across this room."  He watched Josh carefully.  
"Just wanting to get away from the hustle and bustle, like myself, I  assume?" 
Josh  hesitated a moment before nodding, allowing himself to relax slightly. 
"Yes,  sirâ.Iâ.I justâI needed â" he stumbled softly, realizing after 
he'd 
begun that  he had no way to explain what it was exactly he needed. He wasn't 
really even  sure what that was. He looked away quickly, sighing. Running his 
hand through  unruly curls in frustration, he stooped to gather up his 
sketchbook and pencil  again. "I didn't knowâI meanâI didn't 
thinkâ.anyone else came 
here," He admitted  very quietly. 
"It's quite  alright, Mr. Garrity.  I  understand.  Normally, I don't come  
here, but I had something that I needed to do."  Absently reaching into his 
pocket and  feeling the crystal.  "And it's good  that someone knows about this 
place, it's a secure location, in case the ship is  ever taken over."  Thinking 
over the  reports that had crossed his desk recently, though just a lot of 
information,  but he recalled something.  Taking a  seat at the desk and 
motioning Josh to join him, "My sympathies over the loss of  your brother, how 
are 
you holding up?"  Not really sure how to fully proceed, since he wasn't a  
counselor. 
"I'm â" He  stopped himself just short of saying fine, deciding instead to 
answer honestly  as he moved slightly closer. "IâI don't knowâsirânot 
really." 
He hesitated  another long moment before asking, "I'm sorryâ about yourâ 
about Foresterâsir."  He allowed himself to look up at Ketchum then, his eyes 
showing clearly both  pain and concern. 
Their eyes  locked and for a moment they seemed to share a bond, something 
that only those  that had lost someone would share.  Finally, after a few 
moments, "Thank you, though I wish I had known him  better.  It's a long 
story."  
His hand moved as if to brush away an  unseen fly.  His hand stopping and  the 
index finger pointing up, "Though, I do wonder, how did you know that  Forester 
was, well, my son?"   
Josh blushed  slightly. "I ...hearâthingsâI guessâpeople don't 
thinkâdon't 
see I'm thereâthey  don'tâ"for what seemed the thousandth time he wished 
that 
his command of  standard was better.  "I listenâ I  see thingsâ"He shrugged 
then, and admitted for the first time, in his typically  near-inaudible tones, 
"Iâsometimesâ.I just know, I guessâ." He looked away,  embarrassed to 
have 
been found knowing something this time he apparently  shouldn't have. "I'm 
sorry ifâif it wasâ I didn'tâI don'tâ.I  haven'tâsaidâanythingâ." 
He let it 
trail off then, knowing that he wasn't  helping himself here, still blushing. 
Sitting cross-legged on the floor nearby,  he looked up at Ketchum, surprised 
to 
see the pain and concern mirrored in  another's eyes as well. He repeated 
Ketchum's own question back to him then.  "How are you holding up, sir?" 
"I am doing,  ok", he took the crystal from his pocket and laid it on the 
desk.  "I was given a recording, of John,  supposedly, hence the reason I'm 
here. 
 Though, I'm not sure that I really want to hear it."  Trying to change the 
subject, "And it  appears that you come here to draw?  May I see?" 
Hesitating  only a moment, Josh offered the sketchbook to him. The first 
several pages were  ship schematics, intricately detailed and labeled in the 
minute and archaic  Taurii. The next several were just as intricately drawn 
nightmare pictures of  the caves of Taursus and life in the mines. In the back 
were 
pictures of Zack,  and surprisingly enough, the one he was working on now, one 
of Zack and John  together, though the two had never met. He studiously 
examined his boot tops  then, uncertain what the captain's reaction would be. 
After looking  at the first few pictures, "These are expertly drawn."  Then 
he got to the caves and mines,  "Intricate detailing", not sure what else to 
say about the horror that was  there.  Then the pictures of Zack,  "This must 
be, well, obviously."  He  looked up as he turned to the final picture, of Zack 
and John, Keith's eyes  started to water, and he rubbed them quickly, "This is 
really good, you have his  likeness perfect."  He wanted to ask  for a copy, 
but didn't, as he handed to book back to Josh.  "You are a true artist, Mr.  
Garrity.  Thank you for  sharing." 
Josh nodded, eyes still  on his boot tops, pretending not to notice the 
captain's tears. He cocked his  head slightly, as if listening carefully, then 
took 
out the picture of John and  Zack and offered it to Keith. "Ifâ.I wantâ.I'd 
likeâyou to âto have thisâsir. If  that's okay. Sir."  The moment Keith  
accepted it, he retreated back to the corner he'd dubbed 'his' and opened the  
drawer, tucking his belongings away, then sat back down out of the way, giving  
Keith some space. 
"Mr. Garrity I don't know what to say, except  thank you."  Keith stood,  
with the picture in hand, "I'll take my leave now, and let you return to what  
you were doing, in this last place of solitude."  Leaving the crystal on the 
desk, he made  his way to the door, or what was really a sliding opening.  
Crawling out, the doorway slid  shut. 
Josh watched  him go in silence. He couldn't help but feel as though he'd 
intruded as his eyes  fell upon the crystal left abandoned on the desk. He 
thought a moment then  picked it up and tucked it into the desk and messaging 
the 
captain that the  information he'd not yet reviewed waited for him in the top 
desk drawer of  "nowhere".

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