<USS Avalon> "The Human Element"

The Human Element

by Lt. Cmdr. Elissabeth Marksbury and Petty Officer Vevay Davis

 

The gym was empty except for one other woman who was concentrating on the 
workout she was forcing her body through. Vevay chose to ignore her as she 
headed over to the bench to drop her stuff. Pulling off her sweater, she 
started her warm-up stretches. 

It was nearly the end of her limit for the day and Elissabeth was beginning to 
fatigue. She had been hoping that she would feel up to working in the holodeck 
afterwards, but there was no way she could take on a good opponent and win at 
this point. Finishing with some stretches, Lissi toweled her face off and 
grabbed her water, watching the room's other occupant. 

Her body responded to her commands, limbering up and preparing to take what she 
was going to throw at it. Feeling eyes on her, Vevay turned to see the woman 
staring at her. "Can I help you?" 

Shaking her head slightly, Elissabeth said, "Have a good evening, Ms. Davis." 
She turned and headed towards the door.

"Excuse me?" Dashing over, Vevay tried to block the exit. "How do you know who 
I am?" 

"I know who a lot of people are; it's my job. If you'll excuse me," she nodded, 
indicating for the girl to step out of the way. 

"That hasn't answer the question. All you have told me is your job description, 
not who you are and why you know these things. Which was the essence of my 
original question." Vevay felt the lawyer in her kick in. 

"Then I'm sorry I actually answered your question instead of the 'essence' of 
it."

"I am sure, but now you have perked my interest." Vevay leaned against the door 
frame, still not letting the woman leave. "Surely it is rude to not answer a 
simple, non-invasive question." 

"I answered your question of 'How do you know who I am?'. You did not ask me 
who I am or how I knew these things," she smirked. 

Glowering, Vevay nodded at the woman's logic. "That is true. Who are you and 
how do you know who I am?"

"Lt. Commander Marksbury. And your profile crossed my desk because of your move 
into Security."

Oh holy fuck! Without changing expression, Vevay stepped aside. "Excuse my 
impertinence, sir." 

Elissabeth laughed lightly. "You're excused. But I can see with your tendency 
to let your emotions interfere with your logic why you thought a place in 
security would be better than JAG. It's something you may wish to consider 
working on." 

"I was in Security to begin with, sir." She blushed as she stuttered. "I, err, 
think I wasn't exactly cut out for JAG. Probably a bit too soft." 

"I'm aware of that. You have a lot of catching up to do, Ms. Davis," Elissabeth 
smiled kindly. 

"Catching up? What do you mean? I've been fully trained as a Security Officer. 
I'm a Petty Officer of the Fleet. I don't understand." 

"You've also been sitting behind a desk for awhile. Procedures and training are 
constantly changing." 

"Nine months, sir. I've only been out of Security for that long, no more." She 
frowned as she thought about how much the system could have changed in such a 
short time. 

Elissabeth nodded, but didn't argue with her. She was interested to know what 
sort of person this girl was. "Why did you leave Security for JAG?" 

"I wanted to defend people, protect them. Security never seemed to actually 
help, all we ever did was sit around or get sent on away missions. I joined 
Starfleet to protect, to help. I need to try, I don't know. I'm not making 
sense." Feeling her heart hit sher shoes, she stepped even further back. 

"And why did you leave JAG to return to Security?" 

Blowing out a breath, Vevay glanced back up at Marksbury. How honest should she 
be? Something about this woman told her that lying just wasn't an option. 
"Because I fell in love and because I let my personal feelings for someone get 
in the way of my professional judgement." 

Biting back a stinging retort on the girl's inappropriate relationship with the 
Captain, she smiled sweetly, "It happens to all of us at one time or another. 
Lack of judgement, I mean. The important thing is to learn from it and not 
repeat our mistakes." 

"I know and I'm trying; it's just that, now that I'm aboard, I've realised that 
my feelings for this man would be frowned upon. I thought it would be better 
but it just isn't." 

Elissabeth sighed internally, unsure whether or not to stick her two cents in. 
In the end, she just waited patiently, knowing that the girl would most likely 
keep talking. 

Folding her arms under her breasts, almost looking like she was hugging 
herself, Vevay stared off into nothing. "He's just so charming. I don't know. 
We spent a lot of time together during the investigation and I know that wasn't 
appropriate but I just really love his company. We had dinner together, got to 
know each other and now I have to decide what I should do." She shrugged 
deeply. "I know what I want to do, I also know what the right thing to do would 
be, I just don't know what I'm going to do." 

That's a lot of information to give to someone you've just met, Lissi thought 
as she measured the girl in front of her. So, this is the girl the captain 
found so appealing. All this time Elissabeth had assumed Vevay was speaking of 
Ketchum, but something he'd said during their confrontation came to mind... 
something about giving Mr. Harak the same speech. And that the girl hadn't 
returned his affections. It took her a moment to put the pieces together, but 
once they tumbled into place, she felt comfortable enough to speak. "And you 
transferred to Security to be closer to Mr. Harak?" 

Vevay nodded once. "He's under your command and he's a commissioned officer. 
Perhaps I should have just returned to the Fenchurch." 

Stepping over to lean against the wall, Elissabeth smiled, "Did it ever occur 
to you to take the Academy exams and go through the process of becoming an 
officer? Your time in service will lend itself to an accelerated program." 

Shaking her head, Vevay said, "Not really bright enough, I guess. It's sort of 
why I didn't join the Academy in the first place. That, and wanting to get the 
hell out of where I was." 

"It seems to be a viable solution for you, Ms. Davis, to seek commission. And 
with the proper attitude and dedication, I'm sure you would do just fine. It 
also seems easy enough to get a sponsor with your connection to the Captain." 
Just couldn't resist, could you? she asked herself, wondering why she was 
feeling so smart-mouthed. That was something Sierra would've done.

"My connection to..." Vevay's mouth dropped open. How much did she know? He'd 
promised not to say anything, said he didn't want to ruin her career. Not that 
it had mattered all that much at the time, but now she had a chance at building 
her career back up, she didn't want her confessions to Ketchum to screw it up. 
"I don't... that is... what exactly do you know about my connection to the 
Captain?" 

"I know enough." 

"Enough to know what?"

"I make no assumptions." Not anymore, she thought, and meant it. 

"And yet you have assumed that my relationship with the Captain is more than 
purely professional." Eyes on fire, Vevay drew herself up, realising for the 
first time that she was actually slightly taller than Marksbury. "Why is that?" 

"I believe you're the one making assumptions, Ms. Davis." Elissabeth never 
moved from her relaxed pose, nor showed any change in expression. 

Narrowing her eyes, Vevay nodded. "Perhaps. This is not a topic of conversation 
that I am completely comfortable with. My friendship with Kei... the Captain 
was short lived, I assure you. All that remains is the professional 
relationship between a Petty Officer and her Captain." The bitterness dripped 
from her words at the thought of it. She really had liked Keith, he was a 
lovely man. 

Elissabeth said nothing. 

Shrugging again, Vevay simply looked away. There was nothing she could add. 
Even if she had wanted to go through the Academy, she was certain that Keith 
would want to forget everything about his trial, which included her. "I would 
never use any association I have with the Captain to further my career. He 
offered me this position, I did not solicit it. I will not manipulate him 
further." 

"And you don't think that your Captain would sponsor a crewman with an 
impeccable record to the Academy?

"Not this one," she whispered. 

"Why not?"

Fixing Marksbury with a stubborn glare, she said, "Because whatever blemishes 
are on his record as a result of this court marshal are partly my fault." 

"If I'm not mistaking, one of the first things you learn about being a lawyer 
is to pick the facts from the assumptions, is it not?"

"Yes." 

Marksbury raised her brow, figuring the conclusion from her words should be 
obvious. 

"Fact: I was a part of the investigating team that discovered incriminating 
evidence about the Captain. Fact: One of the key pieces of evidence that could 
have been used to defend him had to be removed from the trial because of my 
involvement with a key witness. Conclusion: My affect on this case and the 
Captain's trial was purely detrimental." 

"But you're assuming that the Captain holds a grudge." 

"Why would he not? It is unreasonable for him to feel otherwise." 

"Ah, and here we come to the human element factor," she grinned. "It's always a 
variable, is it not?" 

Cocking her head to the side, Vevay considered Marksbury's words. "There are 
times when it is possible to predict someone's actions even when one doesn't 
know them that well." 

"At times hypothesis can be made, but that is not indicative to results of 
one's actions." 

"That is true, but each human being will react in the same way given the right 
situation." 

"Are you saying that to place two people, perhaps myself and you, in the exact 
same scenario, we would react the same?" 

"Given the correct situation, yes, I am. We are both human, we have both gone 
through the same level of evolution, which has developed our reactions to the 
same extent. In essence, the part of you that makes you human is exactly the 
same as that part of me."

"But what would define your 'correct situation'?" 

"If I strike you once then the next time I raise my hand you will defend 
yourself in anticipation, correct?" 

"Correct. Or once you struck me, I could kill you immediately, not giving you 
time to raise your hand once more." 

"But the defense is the key. Either by killing me or by anticipating my next 
action, you are protecting yourself. That is what I mean. It is a reaction that 
is hard-wired into the human mind. It is this element of his basic make-up that 
will prevent Keith from sponsoring my application to the Academy." 

"One flaw. You have not taken into account the martyr who would take the 
following blow for whatever reasons necessary, oft times to protect another. 
And... Keith? A strictly professional relationship, I see." 

"I..." Vevay instantly coloured. "He... He isn't a martyr." Real sophisticated 
reasoning there, Vevay. Nice one. 

"I think the Captain will surprise you," she offered with a nod, as she stepped 
around Vevay and through the door.

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