<USS Avalon> "Answers"
- From: Lyryn Cate <wistful_fancy@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: avalon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 22:10:51 -0800 (PST)
Answers
By Senior Lieutenant Elissabeth Marksbury
and Lieutenant First Class Melanie Redgrave
Elissabeth waited until oh-six-hundred before going on to her next dreaded
task.
"Marksbury to Redgrave - I apologise for the time, but I need to speak to you
about your sister."
Looking up from tying her gym shoes, Melanie?s face suddenly went very pale.
"Is she alright, Lieutenant?"
"Yes! Yes, I didn't mean to frighten you. I just need to ask you some
questions... to help her. If that's okay." Marksbury's voice was small and very
tired sounding.
Melanie had seen this coming the moment she?d found out that Marksbury was
involved in all this. "I was just about to have tea your welcome to join me,
Lieutenant."
"That - sounds good. I'll be right there." Elissabeth gathered herself together
and shortly found herself outside Redgrave's door. She didn't want to do this
and she knew from Melanie's tone of voice that she didn't either.
Taking the few moments it took for her guest to arrive, Melanie pulled out two
wooden boxes. One she?d carried with her since she?d started her search, and
the other Georgia had given her. She placed them on her small table and then
finished steeping the tea. "Come in, Lieutenant." She called out at the sound
of her chime.
Elissabeth gave her a tired smile, "I'm so sorry to bother you this early,
Lieutenant. I'm just on a very tight schedule this week and... I... I have to
find the answers for Skyler. I can't bear to see her like this anymore." She
was fighting back tears and berating herself for it. Especially in front of a
practical stranger.
Offering Elissabeth a warm smile and a seat at her table, Melanie shook her
head lightly. "It?s alright, Lieutenant. I?ve been up for over an hour. I was
going to head to the gym since I?ve been banded from sick bay until nine
o?clock." She poured them each tea and then made motion towards the cream and
sugar before sitting. "How is she?"
"She's...stable. I had contact with her again last night." Elissabeth took a
seat, reaching for the tea, not adding anything. "It's complicated to explain
and I'm not sure I even believe it myself... Oh, and call me Elissabeth - or
whatever form of it you prefer." She offered her a lop-sided grin as she took a
sip from her cup.
Melanie hid a smile behind her tea cup. Such a yank, she thought as set her tea
which had been paled with the addition of milk, onto it?s saucer. "In that case
Elissabeth," Melanie began, her voice and accent soft, "It?s Melanie or Mel.."
Melanie paused a moment and then got right to it. "Eli?s told me about the week
you have ahead of you, so why don?t you tell me what it is you need to know to
help Skyler?"
"Honestly, I need to know why you're alive." She didn't mean for it to sound so
blunt and nearly flinched as the words tumbled from her mouth. She wasn't
functioning like normal and it was beginning to frustrate her to no end.
Melanie laughed lightly. "It?s alright, Elissabeth, by all rights and reasoning
I shouldn?t be. Where to start," Melanie said more to herself then to her
guest. "The short of it? From what I?ve been able to find out, when the
explosion hit the section Celeste and I were in she managed to somehow shield
me from the falling debris. When the attack was over I was found alone, no
where near the other two survivors."
"And they couldn't identify you?" she asked curiously.
"They could have," Melanie replied just as something dark flashed, then fizzled
in her eyes. "I don?t know why they didn?t. The only things I can come up with
is, Celeste and I weren?t listed as part of the outpost's complement. She?d
come on board from the ship we were traveling on. Plus, the records show that
most of the fatalities came from fires, there were quiet a few unidentified
loses."
Melanie looked down into her tea cup. Her next theory bothered her the most.
"Starfleet took a lot of flack for that attack and my adoption into a family
with... prestige... made quiet a few front page headlines."
"Oh," Lissi exclaimed, not having expected that answer at all. She thought
about it a moment. "Probably not the best fact to pass on to Skyler right now."
Taking another sip, she said, "So, tell me... how did you find out about
Skyler?"
Melanie opened the first box, pulling out the search results she?d run, and
then handing them to Elissabeth. "I found out I was adopted when my father died
my first year at the academy. Finding that out suddenly gave purpose to this...
disconnected.. feeling I?d carried around most of life. So I started using what
I was leaning in forensic science to find out who my birth parents were. I
found a DNA match to Maddox, our father, and then it all started linking up
from there. I came to Avalon to get to know Skyler, I never had any intentions
of telling her who I was until I knew more about her."
"But..." Lissi prodded her to go on.
"The bloody woman read my mind, she saw my thoughts, my reasons for being
here." Melanie answered.
Lissi offered her a reasurring smile. "She... has a tendency to get into
people's heads, that I know." Marksbury's hand trembled uncharacteristically
and she sat her cup back on the table hopefully before Melanie noticed.
Opening the second box, Melanie pulled out Celeste?s log padd. "Even then I
didn?t know much about what had happened. Georgia sent this over to me during
shore leave. Our mother writes about her fears regarding Skyler. She was afraid
she?d block out the memories centered around how Maddox died. She made Georgia
promise not to push Skyler if she did block memories. Apparently it?s something
Betaziods do to protect themselves emotionally." Not wanting to make Elissabeth
reach for the padd, thereby undoing her attempt to hide her shaking hands,
Melanie put the log on the table near her.
Lissi didn't move to pick it up, figuring she could once she had regained
control over herself. But it wasn't happening anytime soon. With her arms
wrapped around her midriff tightly, she whispered, "I saw her do it... block
the memories."
Melanie reach across the corner of the table and placed her hand on
Elissabeth?s arm. "Georgia said she told her that Celeste and I, Celeste and
Sunni were dead and the next morning she didn?t know she had a sister and could
barely recall what her mother looked like. You?ve seen the memories? Can you
help her, Elissabeth? Cause as much as I want to, I don?t know how."
Large tears welled up in Elissabeth's eyes. "I don't know how either... I just
seem to be doing...something."
"Something is better then nothing, Elissabeth," Melanie said softly.
She swallowed thickly and nodded, blinking back the damned tears. She didn't
trust herself to say anything.
Melanie allowed the silence to linger between them for a few moments. "I?m not
a doctor, every class I ever took at Star Fleet Medical involved cadavers, but
medical research is something I can do. I?ll see what I can find out. You?re
not a telepath, are you? Maybe your.. trips.. inside Skyler?s head would be
easier with a... bridge so to speak."
She shook her head, "No, I'm not a telepath. Or at least I never thought so...
I don't know. I just know that I can talk to Skyler and see things that she
sees and feel the things she feels. It is amazing and it?s frightening. But...
enough about me. I know how to do it now. I think... I hope with your
information I will have all the answers Skyler seeks."
"If you need more just ask and I?ll try my best. I wanna help, need to help,
any way I can."
"I'm... hoping to bring her these answers and that she'll decide to wake
herself up. She's not running away anymore, so I think that's progress. She
faced a lot of things last night. She's a brave woman," she finished softly.
Melanie nodded. "I can?t wait to really get to know her if she?ll let me. I?m
glad she has a friend like you, that she has people who care."
Looking directly into Melanie's eyes, she said, "She loved you very, very much.
Her heart broke the day she thought you died. I... felt it." Standing, she
added, "I just thought you should know." Straightening her uniform, she said,
"I'll keep you updated."
Tears welled in Melanie?s eyes and she had to swallow the lump in her throat
before she could reply. "Thank you, Elissabeth."
It was impulse or maybe instinct, she didn't really know, but Lissi took the
steps forward and leaned down to hug Melanie. It was as if two lost souls were
clinging to each other in a storm.
Melanie hugged Elissabeth back and for that moment, felt as if everything was
going to end up ok. When the two women parted, Melanie smiled. "I?m starting to
see why my sister and Eli are so fond of you."
"Thank you, Melanie. We'll keep in touch," she told her, sniffing ever so
slightly to keep tears from falling as she turned and walked out the door.
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