Forgiveness & Reconciliation
Posted on Tue Feb 20th, 2024 @ 2:16pm by Captain Samuel Woolheater & Crewman Adelaide Kirkby
Mission:
Season 6: Episode 4: Memory Lane
Location: DECK EIGHTEEN - BRIG
Timeline: MD07 - THAT EVENING
2487 words - 5 OF Standard Post Measure
[ON:]
MD07 – THAT EVENING – ADELAIDE KIRKBY’S QUARTERS
As the music faded, the room to Adele’s quarters grew silent. The healing waves had washed over her and washed her clean. Of all the literature she knew, all of that which she was exposed to as a child and through her life, the stories and the music that came from Fontalis were her favorites. She sat there on the couch and let the moment just be. She knew that she was blessed and that she could be a blessing. She drew from a deep well of knowledge, myth, and wisdom. A fount that never would go dry. How could she do anything else than share with anyone who needed a drink from this fountain?
She put on her uniform and even though it was evening, she knew what she had to do. There, on the couch, rested an open book. The well-worn pages showed years of use. She had inherited this from her grandmother.
The book lay open to a page where the prophets are on horseback, on foot, on cart and however they could join the pilgrimage to the great city of Sersa. One of the sages speaks to a pilgrim and says:
”Come, come, whoever you are, wherever you are on life’s journey, there is a place for you here. You are made of stardust and light. Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious.
O Pilgrim? Why are you troubled?
If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.
Wanderer, worshiper, you lover of leaving.
It doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, draw near, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times, or a thousand and another thousand times.
Come, yet again, come, come. “
The binding was old, yet it still held together. The cover, worn with age and by trials could not dim the title. In Fontalan the title read:
==============================================
The Blessings of Wisdom and Mercy of Love and Forgiveness as spoken by Possiamo to all the Creation
But most people, including Adele, simply referred to this old Fontalan book as, “The Blessings”
======
A FEW MINUTES LATER - DECK EIGHTEEN – MAIN BRIG
Adelaide entered the brig area. There was only one cell lit with a forcefield. She spoke to the guard. After a moment, after checking, the officer dropped the forcefield and Adele looked over at Samuel. She walked over, crossing the distance between them. He was just sitting up on the slab that was his “bed”.
“Adele?” he said so surprised. “What are you doing?”
She stepped inside his cell, “Hi Sam” she said as she stepped closer.
He sat up and moved too quickly, she jumped ever so slightly. “Oh!”
He stopped immediately, “Sorry….I’m sorry. For everything. I don’t know…I would never hurt you.”
She nodded, “I know. I know what happened; it wasn’t you. That’s what I want to talk to you about.”
He nodded and listened; his uniform top was off. Just the marine green t-shirt underneath. There was a long silence. For a moment, she wondered if she had really lost her marbles. For a moment, she was scared.
Samuel watched her reaction and he had seen that kind of fear before. He felt rotten to the core about this. He gently eased back from her, to create a larger space between them. He did it slowly and carefully.
“No, Sam. Don’t do that.” She said.
He stopped and watched her, “Tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll do it” he answered.
“I don’t want there to be distance between us. I know that what happened isn’t you. I know that. But I’m also a little bit scared too. Not of you, Sam. But of what you can do. And I guess, I just never thought of you this way before. Even though, I’ve seen you guys train before. With the k-bars and all of that. It just never seemed…real?”
He nodded, “If there was some way, I could take it all back. Some way that I could stop what…happened. I would do it. But I can’t. Adele? I am so sorry. I hurt you.”
“It’s OK Sam” she said.
“No, it’s not” he said. He was backed as far away as he could get on the “bed”.
She nodded and looked down a moment. A tear fell from her eye and she wiped the single tear away. “You’ve been a part of my life since I joined the ship. I was just a…secretary…a file clerk…and you all helped me be more” she said.
Sam said softly, “You were never ‘just a file clerk’ to us. You are part of our marine family. I know that’s how everybody in the detachment feels. I know it.”
Adele looked at him and she knew he was telling the truth. She knew it because she knew them. They were soldiers; they were her family.
She asked, “Do you know when I knew that I was really a part of the detachment?”
He shook his head ‘no’ and asked, “When?”
“When the filament hit us. Hit the ship I mean. And there was all this chaos. Stuff blowing up and out. The noise, the fires. I was in my quarters on deck twenty-four. People had their families. My roommates had significant others and I didn’t. I remember, I was in the corridor and two marines came through the door” she laughed in grateful relief, “They cut through the door to get me. I think it was Griffin and…I don’t remember who else. They said that you sent them. To get me. They cut through the door to come and get me. And…that’s when I knew that. I belonged.” She looked at him and smiled, “I will never forget that.”
“Just doing my job. Colonel finally got you trained. I knew how pissed she’d be if we lost you” he said.
Adele laughed at that. She looked at him and said, “No. I know it was all you. You were in command. I won’t forget that.”
And in an extraordinary gesture, she extended her hand to him. She reached for him. And she wasn’t shaking. Nor was she afraid. He looked at her and then slowly reached for her hand and grasped it.
“Thank you Addy” he said.
“We’re a long way from home. We need everyone we can get. We need you” she said. He sat closer to her now, but kept a respectful distance.
“If you’re looking for a wound or a scar, you won’t find one. Medics fixed me up” she said.
“I’m glad that they…came quickly” he responded.
There was quiet between them, and she looked at him. He looked at her and he asked, “I don’t know the next step.”
“Neither do I. But I know a story. It’s been on my heart and my mind ever since Miraj and Andrinn left my quarters.”
“You saw Andrinn?” he said. And then quickly added, “….and Miraj. Miraj too?” The excitement just barely hidden in his voice.
“He misses you. He feels awful. He’s feeling worried, confused. Sad. Lonely. You do know that he loves you right?”
Sam’s eyebrows went up in disbelief, “Yeah, I know. I don’t know why. I don’t know how. After what happened.”
She looked at him, resting her head on her knee as she drew it up closer to her as she made herself more comfortable. “He can see who you really are. Underneath. He knows your job. He knows what you do. And he loves you despite all that. Because he can see the real you.”
She looked at him and he looked back and there was quiet.
“As can I. That’s how I know that what happened wasn’t your fault.”
He nodded and fought back the emotion that threatened to overwhelm him.
Adele said, “Let me tell you a story?” She said and she reached for his hand again and drew closer to him and sat next to him as they used to do.
Adele said, “In a distant land, a long time ago, there existed a magnificent garden known as the Garden of Enchantment, Il giordano incantato. Within its lush greenery and vibrant blooms, rumors whispered of a sorceress named Alyssa who ruled over the garden with enchantments and illusions.
One day, a weary traveler named Girolamo stumbled upon the garden while wandering through the wilderness. Entranced by its beauty, Girolamo ventured deeper into the garden, unaware of the sorcery that lay ahead.
As Girolamo wandered through the garden, he encountered its inhabitants: creatures that Alyssa had enchanted. Turning them into these fantastic creations and beings of illusion. They were like nothing he had ever seen before in his entire life. They beckoned to him with promises of pleasure and delight, tempting him with the allure of the garden's treasures.
Yet amidst the splendor and allure of the girodano incantato, Girolamo felt a sense of unease. He sensed that all was not as it seemed, and he yearned for something more than the fleeting pleasures offered by the sorceress's illusions. Meanwhile, from her castle, Alyssa watched and was determined to catch him and make him her prize.
In his search for truth and meaning, Girolamo stumbled upon a secluded glade within the garden, where he heard a haunting melody echoing through the trees. Entranced by the music, he followed its ethereal strains until he reached a verdant meadow bathed in sunlight.
In the midst of the meadow stood a solitary tree, its branches swaying gently in the breeze. All around the tree was the warmth and light of the Sun. Beneath the tree, Girolamo discovered a pool of crystal-clear water, reflecting the beauty of the surrounding landscape.
As he looked into the water, he had a vision. This is what he saw:
In ancient Navicella, there lived a young woman named Kitta who experienced the profound grief of losing her only child. Overcome with sorrow, she wandered from house to house, carrying her lifeless child in her arms, begging for someone to help bring her child back to life.
In her desperation, Kitta came across a wise man who listened to her story with compassion. She had never seen the wise, old man before and yet he seemed so familiar. He told her, "There is a way to bring your child back to life, but you must first find a mustard seed from a household where no one has died."
Kitta, rejoiced and filled with hope, set out on her quest, going from house to house, asking for a mustard seed. However, at each house, she encountered someone who had experienced the pain of loss and death in their family. Despite her efforts, day and night for many days, she could not find a single household untouched by death.
After searching far and wide, Kitta realized the futility of her quest. She returned to the wise man. There, she found that he had prepared her baby for burial. The finest cloth was used and the delicate, her beloved, was laid in the small casket. The old man had taken such care and had followed all of the required death preparations. Kitta was still grieving, and she has the old man why had he done this? He gently explained, "Death is a natural part of life, and no one is exempt from its reach. Your grief is shared by all beings. Instead of clinging to the past, learn to accept the impermanence of life and find peace within yourself."
And, it was at that moment, that the old man that looked so familiar changed into his true form. He was a Tallis, a messenger, and angel from Possiamo and as she watched she could see on a distant shore her little child, alive and free and waiting. Moved by the wise Tallis’ words, Kitta understood the universality of suffering and the importance of forgiveness. She let go of her attachment to her lost child and embarked on a spiritual journey to cultivate compassion and understanding for all beings.
Now, when the vision had finished and the waters of the pool returned to normal, Girolamo gazed into the tranquil waters, he saw his reflection staring back at him, and in that moment, he saw beyond the illusions of the Enchanted Garden. He saw the truth of his own heart, the beauty of his own soul, and the power of his own spirit. Alyssa, the Sorceress, could only create illusions and enchantments. But she had no powers when one discovered an important truth.
With newfound clarity and resolve, Girolamo broke free from the enchantments of the garden and emerged from its confines, transformed by his journey of self-discovery. He carried with him the memory of Kitta and the lessons learned within its hallowed grounds, forever grateful for the wisdom gained from his encounter with sorcery and illusion.”
The way Adele told the story, Samuel could just picture all of it in his head. When she was finished speaking, he thought about it a moment and then asked her, “What does it all mean?”
Adele answered, “I think it means that its easy to get caught up in unimportant things. We create our own illusions and then we get trapped in them or we enjoy the illusions more than life itself. And that in these illusions, there is a common, shared grief. Loss. The things that we love and that are dear to us; they can be taken from us. Life is impermanent. Permanence…that is an illusion too.”
She looked at him and said, “What matters is the here and now. We’re stranded out here, millions of light years from our home and we are in hostile space. We need every advantage we can get. I don’t know what happened to you. But I do know that I trust you. I forgive you. I know that it wasn’t you. I came down here to get you out of here.”
She stood on her feet, “So let’s go. It’s time to go. It’s time to get to work.”
Standing up, they both walked out and the doors to the brig closed behind them.
[OFF:]
Crewman Adelaide Kirkby
Administrative Support – SFMC
&
Captain Samuel Woolheater
“Saepius Exertus, Semper Fidelis, Frater Infinitas”
Division VI, MARDET 62nd Company "Spartans", 1st Platoon CO
=/\= USS ELYSIUM - NCC-89000 =/\=
