<USS Avalon> "Objects in Motion"

Objects in Motion
By Senior Lieutenant Elissabeth Marksbury 
and Ensign Kevin Stephens

 

Oh shit, oh shit! Oh! Kevin thought while sprinting down the corridor. As he 
rounded the corner, he pivoted on his left foot and did a football style spin 
to keep from barreling into another ensign. Blinding pain in his stomach was 
the next sensation he felt after coming out of the spin.

The tangle of limbs he had collided with had apparently struck his groin. Kevin 
rolled off the body hurriedly and slowly stood groaning.

Marksbury had been walking down the corridor when out of no where someone spun 
directly into her path. Her first instinct was to defend herself and she braced 
in a defensive posture. It wasn't meant to hurt her assailant, but 
unfortunately, the poor ensign stumbled before falling into her, catching her 
knee between his legs on his way to the floor. The momentum knocked Lissi into 
the wall, where she was momentarily tangled with her assailant and pinned to 
the floor. She was back on her feet before the ensign, however, checking to 
make sure her weapon was still in place. She looked at him with a mixture of 
wariness and pity as he stood slowly. 

"Great," he moaned.

Straightening her uniform, Marksbury asked calmly, "I beg your pardon, Ensign?" 

Kevin fell onto his knees, and suddenly vomited from the pain. He could not 
have aimed for her shoes any better if he had tried. "No. Give me your pardon," 
he pleaded, wiping his mouth and standing at attention.

Closing her eyes for just a split second, Marksbury calmed herself and took a 
step back from the puddle of vomit in the floor. Looking steadily at the 
ensign, she said, "At ease, Ensign. Are you okay?" Why did it have to be on my 
shoes? she lamented silently. She was doing her best not to rush away and clean 
up, though she had been on her way to work. It was a good thing she always left 
early for things - just in case. Those "just in case" incidents seemed to find 
her more often than not. 

"Obviously not. I will pack my bags," he quickly responded without emotion, 
still clutching his stomach. My career is over before it begun, he sighed to 
himself.

Tipping her head to the side, completely unprepared for that response, Lissi's 
brows furrowed and she asked, "What?" 

"I am finished here. I am late for work on my first day. I tackled a superior 
officer in my haste and then added insult to injury by subsequently ruining her 
shoes. Who do I tenure my resignation with?"

Marksbury couldn't help but chuckle. Shaking her head, she replied, "I see no 
real harm done that a good scrubbing can't remove. Who's your supervisor? I can 
buy you some time until you've cleaned this mess up." She silently sized him 
up; he was much taller than her and it was amazing that he hadn't hurt her when 
he knocked her down. "However, I would suggest, Ensign...?" Lissi realised that 
she didn't even know who she was speaking to. 

"Ensign..." Name! What is my name? Is she kidding? She's going to help me? 
"Kevin Stephens," he finally said. "And Lt. Raelin is my supervisor." It just 
occurred to Kevin that along with everything else he had not been properly 
addressing a superior officer. "Oh! Ma'am," he added hastily. 

"Well, Ensign Stephens," she spoke quietly, "I would highly suggest that you 
allow yourself more time to get from point A to point B before you find 
yourself in Lt. Raelin's office for a safety briefing at my recommendation. 
Consider this a warning. If you had run into someone paying the slightest bit 
less attention, you both could've ended up in sickbay. Though it looks like you 
got the worst end of the deal as it is." 

"Ma'am!" 

Marksbury blinked in surprise. "Was that a question, an expletive, or 
acquiescence, Ensign?" 

"It was agreement, Lieutenant."

"Very well," she nodded. "Clean this mess up immediately and then report to 
your duty station, Mr. Stephens. I'll inform Lt. Raelin of the situation." 

Without even a nod of acknowledgment, Kevin suddenly did and about face and 
headed in the opposite direction from his pre-collision course. 

Shaking her head, Marksbury side-stepped the mess in the floor and tapped her 
com-link to speak with Lt. Raelin. She sighed as she headed back to her 
quarters, hoping it wasn't gonna end up one of those days. 


                
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