<USS Avalon> The Counselor and the Marine by Moria McEntire McKenna & Andy Maluhia

 
 
 
 
 
The cabin was to quiet, and the bed to empty. There  were no shouts asking 
for glasses of water or about monsters under the bed,  there were no arms to 
snuggle into, no earthy yet freshly showered scent to wrap  up in. Moria tried 
in 
vain to get comfortable and sleep, but her mind was to  busy running through 
a hundred different thoughts all at once for her to even  feel tired. Finally 
sitting up and bringing her knees to her chest, Moria hugged  her legs and 
just stared into nothingness. Her heart hurt. She missed Joe and  her babies, 
and 
her fear and guilt were nearly smothering her. 
 
"How can you be defending this? He's  ruining..."
 
"It's his life, Mum, leave him be!" 
 
"Why are you always defending  him?"
 
"He's my brother." Moria replied as she picked up  her kit and headed for the 
door. 
 
"Moria McEntire McKenna don't you walk away from  me!" 
 
Moria wiped at the tears the rolled down her cheeks as  she pulled herself 
out of bed and threw on her jeans and Joe's rugby shirt.  There was sense in 
sitting in bed while her memories of the fight she'd had with  her mother ran 
rampant through her thoughts, memories were much easier to handle  over double 
shot of Bushmills. 
 
There was bravery and then there was stupidity.   Andy would certainly tell 
the captain about his conversation with Mrs. McEntire  if he was asked but he 
wasn't about to volunteer it freely either.  That  was stupid and stupid 
Marines weren't Marines at all.  He didn't dare go  back to Sick Bay.  Victoria 
would be busy anyway and he didn't think he  could look her on the face just 
yet.  
 
He needed to think but it wasn't the sort of thinking  that lent itself to 
lying on hologram hammocks.  It was the Avalon B that  caused his headache and 
the thought occurred to him that it might make a decent  focus point for the 
thinking he wanted to do.  Making sure his jacket was  straight, he left for 
the 
lounge.  It, he told himself, has a better view  port than the corridor.
 
It was a beautiful little ship, the Avalon B. Moria sat  at a table with her 
knees once again pulled to her chest and a tumbler in her  hand. She wondered 
if the Anna McEntire over there knew she was pregnant yet, or  if she knew how 
many of them there would be, or if she had any idea what so ever  what her 
life was about to become. 
 
Andy walked into the lounge and stopped short.   He'd assumed that the place 
would be empty at this time of day or, at the least,  that none of the 
McEntires would be there considering the duties.  She's  the counselor, he 
reasoned.  
She doesn't have to be in one particular  spot.  And he couldn't quite ignore 
her if they were the only two  there.  That would be rude.
 
"Counselor," he said simply as he took the empty seat  at her table.  He 
looked out the Avalon-B, the giver of  headaches.
 
Moria looked over at the Marine and offered him a warm  smile. "Good Evening, 
Captain." Then she turned and looked once more at the ship  outside. "She's 
something else isn't she? We never really go the chance to know  her all that 
well." Then she laughed a little. "This is one hell of a bloody  mess isn't is?"
 
"She's beautiful but she's given me a headache like you  wouldn't believe," 
Andy said with a half sigh.  He did muster up a half  smile.  "Probably going 
to bring a few demerits or a reprimand at the very  least."
 
She couldn't help herself. "You should go see Victoria  about the headache." 
She smiled a half smile that made her eyes light up. Then  she turned to look 
at him with her head titled to side. "The only way to get  demerits or 
reprimands would be to have unauthorized relations with someone from  the 
Avalon."
 
"I, ah, already did see her," Andy said, smiling  despite himself.  "She's a 
good doctor and a fine cook."  He sobered  at her look., though, and asked, 
"Do you suppose reaching the wrong Dr. McEntire  would count as 'unauthorized 
relations'?"
 
Moria's eyes grew double in size. "The wrong doctor  Mc..... You've spoken 
with my mother?"
 
"Shhh!" Andy hissed.  "I didn't do it on purpose,  believe me.  I think JM 
needs to check some connections."
 
The memories of their fight flooded Moria's mind again  she felt her eyes 
begin to burn yet again. Turning away so Andy couldn't see her  she had to ask. 
"What's she like?"
 
"I've only met your mother a few times but I don't  think I've ever heard her 
swear like that," Andy said with a grin.   "Moria..." It didn't seem right to 
call her Counselor for such a personal  conversation.  "She seemed so 
overjoyed to know you were all  here."
 
Moria blinked. "My mother doesn't swear, at least not  unless she's alone." 
Her eyes lit up at the thought of her mother swearing and  she laughed. She 
couldn't wait to use this one next time she or Vix scolded her  for it. Then 
her 
eyes dimmed a little. "You told her we were all here?" She  nodded to herself 
a little. "She's always worried about us being alright, always  about whether 
she was what we needed."
 
"She asked if she and your father had done right by all  of you," Andy 
explained.  "Alright, those weren't the exact words  but..."  It took a lot for 
him 
to swear in English and he wasn't about to  repeat the words verbatim.
 
A sudden thought took siege in her mind and Moria  couldn't sake it. "How's 
you do it?"

d to empty. There were no  shouts asking for glasses of water or about 
monsters under the bed, there were  no arms to snuggle into, no earthy yet 
freshly 
showered scent to wrap up in.  Moria tried in vain to get comfortable and 
sleep, but her mind was to busy  running through a hundred different thoughts 
all 
at once for her to even feel  tired. Finally sitting up and bringing her knees 
to her chest, Moria hugged her  legs and just stared into nothingness. Her 
heart hurt. She missed Joe and her  babies, and her fear and guilt were nearly 
smothering her. 
 
"How can you be defending this? He's  ruining..."
 
"It's his life, Mum, leave him be!" 
 
"Why are you always defending  him?"
 
"He's my brother." Moria replied as she picked up  her kit and headed for the 
door. 
 
"Moria McEntire McKenna don't you walk away from  me!" 
 
Moria wiped at the tears thet rolled down her cheeks  as she pulled herself 
out of bed and threw on her jeans and Joe's rugby shirt.  There was sense in 
sitting in bed while her memories of the fight she'd had with  her mother ran 
rampant through her thoughts, memories were much easier to handle  over double 
shot of Bushmills. 
 
There was bravery and then there was stupidity.   Andy would certainly tell 
the captain about his conversation with Mrs. McEntire  if he was asked but he 
wasn't about to volunteer it freely either.  That  was stupid and stupid 
Marines weren't Marines at all.  He didn't dare go  back to Sick Bay.  Victoria 
would be busy anyway and he didn't think he  could look her on the face just 
yet.  
 
He needed to think but it wasn't the sort of thinking  that lent itself to 
lying on hologram hammocks.  It was the Avalon B that  caused his headache and 
the thought occurred to him that it might make a decent  focus point for the 
thinking he wanted to do.  Making sure his jacket was  straight, he left for 
the 
lounge.  It, he told himself, has a better view  port than the corridor.
 
It was a beautiful little ship, the Avalon B. Moria  sat at a table with her 
knees once again pulled to her chest and a tumbler in  her hand. She wondered 
if the Anna McEntire over there knew she was pregnant  yet, or if she knew how 
many of them there would be, or if she had any idea what  so ever what her 
life was about to become. 
 
Andy walked into the lounge and stopped short.   He'd assumed that the place 
would be empty at this time of day or, at the least,  that none of the 
McEntires would be there considering the duties.  She's  the counselor, he 
reasoned.  
She doesn't have to be in one particular  spot.  And he couldn't quite ignore 
her if they were the only two  there.  That would be rude.
 
"Counselor," he said simply as he took the empty seat  at her table.  He 
looked out the Avalon-B, the giver of  headaches.
 
Moria looked over at the Marine and offered him a  warm smile. "Good Evening, 
Captain." Then she turned and looked once more at the  ship outside. "She's 
something else isn't she? We never really go the chance to  know her all that 
well." Then she laughed a little. "This is one hell of a  bloody mess isn't is?"
 
"She's beautiful but she's given me a headache like  you wouldn't believe," 
Andy said with a half sigh.  He did muster up a half  smile.  "Probably going 
to bring a few demerits or a reprimand at the very  least."
 
She couldn't help herself. "You should go see  Victoria about the headache." 
She smiled a half smile that made her eyes light  up. Then she turned to look 
at him with her head titled to side. "The only way  to get demerits or 
reprimands would be to have unauthorized relations with  someone from the 
Avalon."
 
"I, ah, already did see her," Andy said, smiling  despite himself.  "She's a 
good doctor and a fine cook."  He sobered  at her look., though, and asked, 
"Do you suppose reaching the wrong Dr. McEntire  would count as 'unauthorized 
relations'?"
 
Moria's eyes grew double in size. "The wrong doctor  Mc..... You've spoken 
with my mother?"
 
"Shhh!" Andy hissed.  "I didn't do it on  purpose, believe me.  I think JM 
needs to check some  connections."
 
The memories of their fight flooded Moria's mind  again she felt her eyes 
begin to burn yet again. Turning away so Andy couldn't  see her she had to ask. 
"What's she like?"
 
"I've only met your mother a few times but I don't  think I've ever heard her 
swear like that," Andy said with a grin.   "Moria..." It didn't seem right to 
call her Counselor for such a personal  conversation.  "She seemed so 
overjoyed to know you were all  here."
 
Moria blinked. "My mother doesn't swear, at least not  unless she's alone." 
Her eyes lit up at the thought of her mother swearing and  she laughed. She 
couldn't wait to use this one next time she or Vix scolded her  for it. Then 
her 
eyes dimmed a little. "You told her we were all here?" She  nodded to herself 
a little. "She's always worried about us being alright, always  about whether 
she was what we needed."
 
"She asked if she and your father had done right by  all of you," Andy 
explained.  "Alright, those weren't the exact words  but..."  It took a lot for 
him 
to swear in English and he wasn't about to  repeat the words verbatim.
 
A sudden thought took siege in her mind and Moria  couldn't sake it. "How's 
you do it?"
 
"Do what?" Andy asked curiously.  
 
"Get a connection open to her."
 
Andy snorted in self deprecation.  "I have no  idea.  I did it without 
looking what I was doing.  JM needs to see to  that thing..."
 
Not before I get James to. "Must have been  cause of the badlands." Moria 
said aloud. 
 
"Moria...don't.  Please.  It's bad enough  I'm going to catch some ear 
chewing at the least.  There's no need for you  to," Andy said.
 
Moria looked over at Andy, her pain clearly seen in  her grey eyes. "She's my 
mother, Andy. I need.. I need to hear her voice.. I  need to tell her I'm 
sorry."
 
"It's forty years ago over there, Moria.  Heck,  I'm nine years old there and 
still sleeping at my grandmother's," Andy said,  shaking his head.  His eyes 
were kind, though.  "Do I want to know  why?"
 
Turning to look once more out the window she said,  "We had a fight the day I 
left Earth and I walked away from her. I haven't  talked to her since then."
 
"What was it about?" he asked.
 
"The same reason we always fight, the same reason  I've always gotten into 
the most trouble," She said with a sad little smile.  "James."
 
"Victoria's very close to him but you all seem so  close.  It's nice to see 
that.  What did you argue about,  though?  How bad was it?" Andy asked.  He 
couldn't imagine arguing  with his mother.  She'd been gone since he seven.
 
Moria was quiet for a moment. They were all close,  but there was something 
separate between Vix and James. "James and I love each  other, we're each 
other's greatest defenders and greatest foes. God you should  have see us as 
kids, 
we were always at each other, but you let someone else  start on one of us." 
Moria shook her head and laughed. "I told our Grandfather  to go to hell once 
cause he'd been bad mouthing James, I beat the hell out of a  girl in high 
school for getting him in trouble and for picking on Vix." She  paused a 
moment. 
"Mum was on his case about his last marriage going south and I  defended him 
yet again. He'd feel like shit if he knew he was the reason Mum and  I were 
fighting."
 
"Then make amends as soon as you can but that lady  over there," he nodded 
toward the ship in the window, "she's not your mother  yet.  Believe me, my 
ears 
are still ringing."
 
"What if we don't get back, Andy?" Moria asked,  finally giving voice to her 
fears. 
 
"I don't want to think about that.  I can't," he  admitted.  
 
Moria chewed on her lip. "I can't stop from thinking  it."
 
"Things will get set right, Moria.  We just have  to nudge them along I 
guess," he said with a shrug.  "Makes me wish I had  my grandmother's magic so 
we 
could see the future. Ah, ours..not  theirs."
 
Moria laughed. "My Nanna Lindsey had a magic wand. I  really wish I still 
believed it could fix everything."
 
Andy gave her a mischievous smile meant to  cheer.  "Listen, right now I am 
apparently nine, right?  So that me  believes it now so it must be true."
 
"I'm a Zygote." Moria  replied with a laugh. 
 
"So then zygote you still has a `uhane and can share  little me's belief in 
magic," he said with a wink.  He sobered slightly and  he leaned forward.  " I 
could ask you something, though, to distract  you."
 
Moria downed the rest of her  drink and then smiled. "So ask."
 
"What would you think of a man  who spent his entire career avoiding romantic 
entanglements yet would know a  good thing when he saw it?"  he asked.
 
Moria smiled brightly. "I'd think  said man had better ask my sister out on a 
proper  date."
 
 "I must have been the only  one on the ship who had no idea, "  Andy shook 
his head and the smile  reappeared. "and she asked me out, actually made me 
half of dinner before  she got called back to work.  Talking about your mother, 
though, has made  me wonder what she'd think of me."
 
"Well, as long as you're good to  Victoria, and she can see for herself how 
she feels about you, she'll be ok."  Moria laughed. "But be warned. She liked 
Joe when she met him, but that didn't  stop her from putting the fear of 
Sussanna McEntire into his very  soul."
 
"There are only two women that I,  without question, know would call the 
wrath of females everywhere down upon me:  my grandmother and my great aunt.  
Might be I'd have to add your mother  into the list," Andy mused.  Giving Moria 
a 
pointed look, he added, "Z-Man  told me about that.  If I was your brother, I 
would've broken every bone in  his body starting with the little ones in his 
ears."
 
Moria blushed a deep shade of  red. "My brothers were a lot less tactful in 
making sure Joe knew not to  hurt me, then my Mum was."
 
"I like her more already," Andy said with a  grin.
 
"I'll remember you said that and  remind you after you first meeting with 
her." Moria laughed again as a thought  passed through mind. "Vix would kill me 
if she knew I were sitting here talking  to you about the two of you."
 
Andy paled slightly.   "Please don't tell her I asked, then.  She..."  His 
eyes looked  downward.  "I don't ever want to be the one to cause her to get  
sick."
 
Moria looked at him for a long  moment. "You won't. She's a lot stronger then 
we give her credit for." 
 
"Yeah but...I'm a sucker for  those eyes now that they've looked at me.  
They're your mom's eyes, you  know."
 
"I think I've noticed that a time  or two over the last forty years." She 
couldn't help but laugh at him. "All  three of us have her eyes and her hair, 
but 
Vix comes the  closest."
 
"Then you know she's as wise as  she is sweet.  I might suggest that you ask 
her about your mom,  Moria.  She's a sharp woman," Andy said.
 
Moria nodded, "I'll agree with  you that she's a brilliant woman, but I can't 
tell her about me and our Mum,  Andy. I don't want her in the middle of it."
 
"I'm sorry, Moria."  And he  meant it.  That sort of division had never 
happened in his family but every  family was different.  There was also never a 
time since she died at the  age of 108 that he hadn't wanted to talk to his 
great 
aunt.  "If you can  figure out what made that connection in my office then I 
don't wanna know  nothin' but, I might wanna know what happens, too."
 
He'd slipped into the accent he  had at home, which meant he was either 
really angry or rather intensely curious  and wasn't concentrating.
 
Turning away from the window and  looking over at Andy, she smiled at the 
sound of his accent. She'd never felt  the need to dull or lessen her own which 
was a unique mix of Californian  and Australian. "I'll let you know what 
happens." She finally replied. "I should  try and get some sleep before our 
favorite 
doctor chews me out for not taking  care of myself. Thanks for the ear, Andy."

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