<USS Avalon> "The Lessons We Learn - Part 1 - Sacrifices"

The Lessons We Learn
Part 1 - Sacrifices
By Senior Lieutenant Elissabeth Marksbury 
and Ensign Sussanna Jameson

Marksbury stepped through the door at exactly oh-four-hundred hours to the 
sound of kicking at one of the hatches. The handful of people all turned their 
attention to the ensign unfurling herself like a spider from a hole as she left 
the Jeffries Tube. 


"Bloody hell!" she exclaimed. "But at least I?m on time." 


"And out of uniform," Marksbury commented as she stepped past Ensign Jameson to 
stand at the front of the room. "Have a seat, Ensign." She surveyed the room, 
taking mental count... Matthews, Monroe, Fenner, Crossland, Archer, Jameson, 
Sergova, and Harak were in attendance. "I see not everyone decided to join us 
this morning," she said dryly. 


Just then, the door slid open and Yeoman Forester came dashing into the room, 
his face flushed and he looked as if he were about to cry. "Yeoman Forester 
reporting for duty!" he exclaimed, standing at attention. 


Elissabeth hated what she was about to do, but knew it would serve the cause in 
the end. 

"Get out," she told the yeoman. 

He looked at her, frightened and confused. "Sir?" 

"I said, ?get out?. If you cannot be bothered to show up on time, then I do not 
need you here." 

"But..." The poor yeoman looked heart-broken. "My door was locked.... and it 
took me exactly 11 minutes to pry it open, sir, leaving me only two to get 
here. I had to take three turbo lifts, sprinting down the..." 

"Thank you for the play by play, Mr. Forester. However, I said, ?no exceptions, 
no excuses? for tardiness." Marksbury moved to the back of the room and was 
standing directly in front of the tall and earnest yeoman. "You should?ve left 
earlier. You are dismissed." Just because someone was stationed in covert ops 
didn?t mean she needed them all the time. This training was designed to find 
the elite - the best - and make them one. And they all knew they could be 
dismissed at any time.


"Hey!" This time it was Anna who felt the fire of Marksbury's gaze. "Look, with 
all due respect, sir, at least he's here. You could cut him a little slack."


Turning her head swiftly, the intensity of Marksbury's eyes never left 
Sussanna's face. Very calmly, she asked, "Are you willing to take his place?" 


Anna pulled herself up to her full, substantial height. She turned to Forester, 
weighing him in her mind, and then back to Marksbury. "If that is what is 
required of me, sir, then that is what I shall do."

"You are willing to take his punishments and accept any consequences that may 
incur? You are willing to sacrifice yourself so that this man has a chance to 
begin over?" Her voice was still incredibly soft. 

Fear twisted in Anna's belly, but none of it showed on her face. Instead she 
spoke calmly and evenly to the yeoman, without ever looking away from 
Marksbury. "Yeoman, stand over here, come by me."

Forester stood frozen to the spot, unsure what was going on and whose orders to 
follow. He moved his vision between Marksbury and Jameson, confused, but still 
fixed to the carpet.

"Yeoman, I gave you an order. Stand here, take my place!" Anna had no time for 
this silly little man, he would just have to do as he was told.

"Yessir!" John said, practically leaping to attention. He took one step 
forward, still divided between Marksbury and Jameson. 

Marksbury watched with complete interest and wondered if Jameson had picked up 
on her intent and gone ahead with it. Seemed like something she would do, 
anyway. She was pretty sure Anna believed it a test or a bluff. Anna had a lot 
to learn. 

Marksbury's face remained impassive, but she gave the slightest of nods to the 
yeoman.

Forester took the two strides to Anna's side, still looking between the two 
women. He could feel the play for power in the room and knew that in the end 
Marksbury would win, but deep down he was routing for Anna.

Jameson grinned at Forester. "Nice one, Yeoman." She marched to the door, 
paused, and looked back at Marksbury. "His punishment is mine, sir." 

"So chosen, Ensign Jameson. I will see you in my office in one hour." 

Anna nodded, span on her heels and walked straight into the rest of Covert Ops, 
panting as they rushed into the room.


"Attention!" 

The entire group came to as Jameson stomped away. "It seems as if I have an 
entire group of people who do not bother to show up on time, not just Mr. 
Forester - I mean Ms. Jameson." Pacing in front of the group, she asked, "Do 
you want a place on this team?" Several "Yes, sirs!" were heard. 

She narrowed her eyes and addressing the entire room, declared, "Follow me." 


As they trundled down the corridor Forester glared at Crossland. "How'd you get 
here on time? Bang your head against the door until it opened in submission?" 
he growled, still feeling the sting of Marksbury's words. 


"Stayed at my girl?s place last night," he grinned. "I realised it when I 
couldn?t get in to shower and change this morning, so I just came straight 
here. First one in the room," he added proudly. 


"And you didn?t think something was up with that? Never questioned it? Never 
realised that others could be stuck?!"


"Sshhhh!" another enlisted member hissed, "She?s already pissed enough. Just 
shut up before she hears you!"


Marksbury led them to the gym. "Those of you who were late, sit over there. 
Those of you in the room, or entering the room," she looked at Forester, "on 
the floor. Flat on your back." She watched as they complied. Lissi glanced at 
James, knowing how sore he was going to be later, and nearly winced. "On my 
command, you will raise your feet six inches from the floor and hold them there 
until I tell you to release them. Keep your palms flat on the floor beside you. 
Up!" 

The group on the floor lifted their feet just as she said. She paced in front 
of them, lecturing, "Apparently, your team mates wanted to punish you. Down." 
The command was followed by a thump of heels hitting the floor. "Up. Because 
they do not know how to be on time. To be late on a mission - down - puts the 
rest of your team in jeopardy. Up." She continued to pretend as though the late 
group didn?t exist, though she knew they were hanging on her every word. "When 
one person screws up - down - every single one of us are hurt. Up." She stood 
in silence watching them strain to keep their feet six inches off the floor. 


Turning to the group of late arrivals, she said, "I can imagine they are pretty 
pissed at you right now. Down," she ordered the first group. "Sit up." They sat 
as she commanded. She looked at the tardy team again. "Look at them," she 
pointed, watching the guilt cross their faces as they saw their comrades taking 
punishment because of their tardiness. "Had this been a different situation, 
every single one of those people could be dead." 


She glanced back over to the first group and told them to lie down again. "Up," 
she commanded, before addressing the second group. Groans could be heard from 
the first group, as their muscles had frozen just a tiny bit due to the minute 
of rest and the punishment began to take on a whole new form.


Running them through several sets of the exercise, lecturing every time she had 
the group sit up. It became more painful each time they began again. And the 
late group were forced to sit there at watch. Elissabeth knew that any 
punishment she doled to the late ones wouldn't be nearly as bad as what they'd 
catch from their team mates later on. The idea was to make the late group work 
even harder, promoting togetherness in the long run. 


Forty-five minutes later, she released them to Lt. Monroe's charge, who 
dismissed them to dress in PT gear. The cold looks on blank faces were painful 
to witness, but it had to be done.


                
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