<USS Avalon> Re: "Avalon's Ending"

 
"Avalon's Ending"
v.2
Counselor Cailin Danaan, Ph.D. and  Veronica Pageant, Yeoman



She  almost couldn't believe it. It had been what, six  weeks? 
But the broadcast to abandon ship had been made. Cailin growled, something 
she  rarely did, and uncurled herself from the couch in her quarters. They had 
been  instructed to bring only necessities and what could be carried, but that 
was not  a problem for her. She didn't have much. Quickly gathering her few 
prized  possessions, she stuffed them into a duffel, along with some off-duty 
clothing.  She picked up the medical kit she always kept with her, and with one 
last look,  left her quarters for the last  time.
Cailin made her way quickly along the corridors. She knew she was assigned to 
 the Lancelot for evac, and she hurried to get there. But as she was  passing 
a turbolift, she heard the strangest noise. The hair on her ears and at  the 
nape of her neck stood on end as she stopped and listened, to make sure she  
hadn't been hearing things. She heard nothing else, but she went over the sound 
 in her mind, and was fairly certain she hadn't imagined  it.
Veronica  Pageant had rushed back to her quarters and was now on her way to 
the shuttle  bays.  As she turned a corner, ahead was a woman stopped in the 
middle of  the corridor. "Ma'am," she said, trying to recall who she was. Ah, 
the new  counselor.  "Counselor, perhaps stopping now isn't prudent--we  need 
to 
make it to our shuttles, otherwise we won't get off the ship. Rumor  has it 
that Avalon is  dying."
Cailin wanted to pull out the tricorder from her medkit and scan the lift  
shaft. She had heard something, and wanted to make sure what was  there.
"There's no time to try to take a lift," Veronica pressed. "We walk and  then 
climb, it's the only way. Trust me, I have already tried the lifts,  and 
they're not working."   
The Tuathan looked at her companion, whom she recognized as the captain's  
personal assistant, at the same time acknowledging the agitated twitching of 
her 
 tail. Combined with her hair standing on end, it reaffirmed the importance 
of  haste.  
"I know," she replied, finally turning and leading the yeoman away--her  
curiosity would simply have to go  unsatisfied.
As the two women walked quickly toward the nearest Jeffries tube access, 
Cailin  was assaulted with nearly paralyzing memories. She had been forced to 
evacuate  the Tambora seven years ago, and now she was leaving the Avalon, a  
ship 
she had served on only weeks. The last time she'd done this the ship was  not 
only dying but falling down around her ears; Avalon, by comparison,  was 
slipping quietly  away.
Didn't make abandoning ship any  easier.
It wasn't until they were crawling--quite uncomfortably, considering they 
were  both dragging duffel bags--through what seemed to be miles of Jeffries 
tubes  that a thought occurred to Veronica, causing her to emit a mirthless  
chuckle.
"I don't see what about our situation is amusing, Yeoman," Cailin  said.
Veronica didn't answer until they had dropped onto the shuttle bay level and  
extricated themselves from the Jeffries tube. "I'm not laughing," she said as 
 the two jogged toward their destination. "It's just that it occurred to me 
that  New Year's Eve is exactly two months from today. The ship going down is a 
 helluva way to end  2382."
Cailin nodded. "October 31st is also what Humans call Halloween, is it  not?"
Veronica's dark brown eyes widened. "Oh my... you're  right!"
She swept a loose lock of dark hair from her face. "You know, I used to love  
going trick-or-treating when I was a kid, but I tell you what--if  Avalon's 
end is someone's idea of a trick, it sure as hell ain't  funny."
Cailin's agreement was silent. When the two women had at last reached the  
shuttle bay, they cast a last look at one another, as they were assigned to  
separate shuttles.  
"See you at Izar, Counselor," Veronica  said.
Cailin nodded. "Fly safe,  Yeoman."

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