<USS Avalon> "Resistance is Futile"

Resistance is Futileby Sharliez Mundy and Caitlenn Ross 


Shar stood in front of the holodeck. Not at all sure what she would encounter 
on the other side, she tentatively said, "Computer, open holodeck doors." The 
sight that met her on the other side was the last thing she had been expecting 
and put her completely on edge. The scene before her was one of chaos. She was 
in what had once been a starfleet ship's corridor only now the console panels 
were all green and displayed icons that were alien to her. As she continued to 
walk around, she came face to face with a Borg drone. Shar's heart almost 
stopped and her mind flashed back. Sharliez, your mother is dead. The Borg, 
they attacked Wolf 359. No ships survived. She could feel the hate swelling 
inside her.

I must keep going. This is all simulation. None of this is real. I must find 
Cait. Shar kept walking, past regeneration alcoves where Borg were seemingly 
oblivious to her presence. I pose no threat to them as I'm unarmed. Sharliez 
made her way through the ship, passing Borg that had obviously been members of 
the ships crew at one point, the uniforms visible through the cybernetic 
implants.

Finally Shar came upon main engineering and heard significant noise. Is that 
gunfire? She walked in to find Cait surrounded by half a dozen Borg, covered in 
blood, looking like shit and with an expression that made Shar want to walk 
straight back out again.

The chamber of her right gun clicked empty and Cait threw it to the floor in 
frustration. Her battle cry echoed above the clicking and shunting of her 
opponents. Slipping a long wide bladed knife from its sheath down her spine, 
she continued to fire her remaining gun into the decreasing number of Borg 
around her. A crack across her shoulder told her that one had landed another 
blow. It was her already wounded arm and her cry became a scream of pain.

My God! She's turned the safeties off. She'll kill herself at this rate! 
"Computer, end programme!" The remaining Borg disappeared and Shar ran over to 
the severely wounded Cait.

"What the..." Cait knelt down, her breath coming in sharp bursts as she tried 
to focus on the woman leaning over her. "Who the hell are you and what the 
fucking hell do you think you're doing?"

Charming! "Stopping you from killing yourself you idiot!" Shar snapped back. 
"And as for who I am, I'm the person responsible for saving your sorry ass last 
time you were shot at, on the station!" Ungrateful bitch.

"I never asked you to save me!" Lifting the gun laying next to her, she aimed 
it directly at the woman's head. At the look of complete shock in her eyes, 
Cait smiled grimly. "Thought they were holograms too, didn't you?"

Fuck me! This girl is psycho. Come on Shar, pull yourself together. She 
obviously needs help. "And you're going to do what, shoot me? That's going to 
solve your problems isn't it?" Shar wasn't sure where this courage was coming 
from. She could be shot dead at any moment by this woman and for some reason 
she didn't care. "Let me help you Cait," she said in the softest voice she 
could muster under the circumstances. "My name is Sharliez and I want to help 
you, nothing more. Let me fix you up."

Squeezing the trigger, Cait watched Sharliez's eyes go wide until the click 
told her the barrel was empty. "Are you a doctor then?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. I don't have the degree to prove it but I have 
enough experience that Jawi wants me to be a permanent addition to the ship's 
crew. I am also a counsellor if that is any interest to you," a wry smile 
crossed her face as she said, "but if you'd rather talk to the Borg then I 
guess I'll leave you to it." With that Shar turned on her heel and began to 
walk towards the holodeck doors.

"You don't understand, do you?" The bitterness welled in her and she vomited. 
"Holy fuck." Cait crawled to her feet and took one staggering step before the 
dizziness threw her to the floor again. "No one fucking understands!"

Shar rushed back to help Cait to her feet. This girl has some serious issues. 
What the hell am I letting myself in for? "Then help me to understand Cait. I 
don't judge people just like that. I can only help you if you want me to. 
Otherwise I will stay as ignorant as everyone else. You have to want to tell 
someone before the pain can begin to get better." Shar was using all the 
counselling skills she had acquired over the years to try and reach out to Cait 
but she wasn't convinced she was getting anywhere. "Where do you want me to 
help you to?" Noticing the look on Cait's face she added, "We don't have to go 
to sick bay if you don't want to. I can get you to replicate me a med kit in 
your quarters if you'd rather."

"Thank you," Cait whispered, spitting the vestiges of blood and other fluids 
from her mouth. "Why are you trying to help me? And don't give me any bullshit 
about it being your job. This isn't Starfleet anymore, this is the real world."

"I don't see this as my job but more of my calling. I see a person in need and 
I feel compelled to try and help them." Shar edged Cait closer to the doors, 
"And don't tell me that's bullshit too because it isn't. That's just the way I 
am. I'm offering you my friendship and my help if I can give it. Take it or 
leave it."

"That would be my choice and something I will have to think on." They reached 
the doors and Cait leaned up against them for support and a rest. "Thank you 
for your help, but friendship is something that doesn't come easily to me 
anymore."

Shar knew it would take a lot more than her usual charm to get into Cait's 
troubled mind. As she helped her along the corridors to her quarters, Shar 
wondered whether Jawi would roast her alive for not taking her back to sick 
bay. My professional opinion as a counsellor is that sick bay is the last place 
she needs to be right now. Satisfied with her own response she turned her 
attention back to the woman next to her.

Other related posts: