Resistance to Help by Ensign Anita Tessasohn Abandon ship, all hands to emergency escape pods. Abandon ship, all hands... "Ferrison! Over here, hurry!" Anita shouted as the deck burst in flames faster than Ferrison could reach the exit of engineering. "Ferrison!" As the doors closed and the young lieutenant pounded her fists against the blast doors in this state of emergency. She and a few others were left behind, and nothing could release the locks. "Get me out! Get me out! Oh, god, please! Get me out! Plea..." the ship shook violently again, it was another hit to her secondary hull as the Excelsior class Slayton veered to it?s right, sending Anita and the few evacuees slamming against the wall and the computer terminals. "Help! Don?t leave me!" "Don?t leave me, please, help us!" Someone in that group shouted as they all started to bang against the shielded doors. Anita got up, white flashes in her eyes as she quickly meddled with a computer terminal. Someone grabbed her, "we have to go! There?s nothing we can do!" "No! Please don?t..." an explosion erupted, tearing a large hole somewhere in the engineering as Ferrison and the few others were vacuumed to the source. Anita ran, being pulled by a man and sprinting with the rest of what was left of the engineering crew. It was only one deck up, so close but now so far away. The bodies of those that died in the Breen ambush littered the decks along bulkheads, eps conduits, and a whole other amount of other system damages and burnt marks. "Get inside!" Anita was tossed inside as the hatched closed and a second violent jolt pushed them out of the Slayton?s belly. There was a moment of peace as Anita looked at the other survivors. Audry, Garrison, Hemitz, and Landy. Audry immediately activated the emergency beacon, "there was another ?Fleet ship in the area, around twenty light years away." Garrison breathed, "good. I just hope..." a shockwave came through as the small pod was tossed. "We?ve lost all of our thrusters... communications are out!... I can?t..." "Miss Tessasohn, have you been hearing me?" "What?" Anita turned her head to see her new counselor, Lauren Salvich . A woman in a mid- forties that had patches of greying hair appearing at her sides which were all bundled up neatly behind her. Her hands were calmly placed in front of her with a padd in her grip, and her back rather too straight for a atmosphere in which she wanted, apparently, to be comfortable and welcoming. She had been a hard lady to approach, and seemed rather cold about this meeting. In short, Anita didn?t like her either. "I?m sorry, counselor, I was lost in my thoughts. What was it you were saying?" Lauren impatiently blew the air out of her, "this has been at least the fifth time you have had a lapse in attention. It?s obvious you are thinking of something, and if I make an assumption- it must be from the recent events concerning the Slayton." Anita shrugged, "maybe." She looked out the window again. This is complete waste of time. At least Errid delivered... good flunky. A sudden low chuckle came from Anita and she quickly suppressed it. But it only tested Lauren?s patience, "Miss Tessasohn, you have been most unhelpful since we met. I cannot help you if you don?t talk about what is bothering you. And now, you are giggling about something I don?t even know about." Anita looked at her, "yeah well, I?m not much for talking about my problems." "Which is partly why I am here. To help you with this, but you haven?t been at all forthcoming." "Must be because I just don?t like you," came the instant response as Anita just looked at her. Lauren frowned, "was it something I said?" "More like your attitude. Listen, thanks for coming in Errid?s place. But I realize you too aren?t a really good one for helping me with my issues. If there is any issues to be talked about in the first place," she added quickly. "I take it you received Counselor Errid?s report." Lauren looked at her, attitude that completely changed. Surprising really, Anita observed, most counselors would take whatever harsh response came at them, this one reacted a whole lot quicker. But Lauren nodded, and Anita continued, "then you know and have my response to the lost of the Slayton and how I feel about it." "Maybe you should talk about it more, Miss Tessasohn. It was rather brief," Lauren took a breath, reclaiming her lost patience with Anita. Anita shook her head, "listen, doc, I know I sound like a real bitch to you..." "I wouldn?t say that..." "Which is why I said it for you." Anita gave a grim smile. There was a quick moment of silence but she continued, "Anyway, I know I asked for a new counselor. But from the moment we sat here and hearing you try and make me air out my problems, I haven?t- as you see- been giving. Nor am I going to. Look, the Slayton?s loss and the people -the friends- I lost there was... is... a big blow to me. But I?m coping with it the best way I see fit. You may not like it, Starfleet Medical may not like it; hell, it may not even be a natural way to deal with it. But I am. That said, I going. I?m sorry to have wasted your time, Miss Salvich." Lauren narrowed her eyes, "I noticed you have been running from the situation every time I bring up the subject of the Slayton?s destruction. You dismiss it with repeating yourself about the talk you had with Counselor Errid. Why?"Anita looked at her, she had completely misread the counselor. What she thought was patience nearing it?s end turned to be Lauren?s way of observing her. It definitely impressed her, but it didn?t stop what she was setting out to do. "I?m not running from it Miss Salvich. I?m dealing with it. Maybe if you people would just leave me alone, I wouldn?t have to always repeat myself." "Running isn?t a solution." "Not for you at any rate." "So you admit, you are running away. I understand if you feel vulnerable, Anita. It happens with situations like these. It?s hard to cope with the loss of your friends, colleagues, the people you work with from day to day. You may not be friends with everyone on a ship, granted, but it nevertheless feels as if you?ve missed a piece of yourself. I know how it feels to lose the ones you are close to. It?s like losing a family member." Lauren?s response came in a softer, more gentle tone as she set the padd aside. "I know, I do seem a little hard to approach, but I am here to help. It?s what I do." Anita shook her head, "I understand. But, look. I?m not running. I admit, it is a nice way to avoid the problems. To forget about it all. But I?m not running, I just want to be left alone to deal with this in my own way." Lauren nodded, "yes, Counselor Errid has told me about your holodeck programs. Dangerous and apparently you went against his request to avoid this. Why?" Anita crossed her arms, "maybe because I wanted to. Just because Errid said so, doesn?t mean it?s going to help me. Trust me when I say that playing out that program did a world of good." "I see. You do know that your behavior to this could hamper your request for a posting on a ship," Lauren said in a tone of ?matter of fact.? It was Anita?s turn to frown, "I don?t see how this could hamper my duties. Look, Miss Salvich, I?ve just about had enough of this. I?m fine. Don?t think I?m not. If you want to test me, that?s alright." Lauren nodded slowly, taking the padd she set aside and added a few notes. "Alright, Miss Tessasohn, I will not impose my will to make you talk, and I do apologize if I?ve made you feel uncomfortable. This session is over, and I hope we meet again, come at your own time; I?m pretty much free, so anytime really. But all this will be on my report. And it won?t matter what ship you request transfer to, your captain and the counselor currently aboard will know of this." Anita got up and nodded, "that?s fine with me. Have a good day Miss Salvich." --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!