Avoidance

Posted on Tue Mar 26th, 2024 @ 9:08am by Captain Samuel Woolheater & Lance Corporal Evan Griffin & Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea & Consul Andrinn Orin

Mission: Season 6: Episode 4: Memory Lane
Location: DECK THIRTY-TWO - MARINE COUNTRY
Timeline: MD09 - 1100
3116 words - 6.2 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON:]

MD9 – 1100 HOURS – DECK THIRTY-TWO MARINE COUNTRY


Samuel was working out in the marine gym. He was being spotted by a fellow work-out partner, Lance Corporal Evan Griffin. Evan was on the bench press. Sam was his spotter, giving him some encouragement and making sure he was keeping up the proper form, “C’mon…yeah. Yeah. Good” he said as Evan lifted the weights above his head and slowly lowered them. “Keep those elbows straight” Sam said. Evan grunted but complied and grunted “Seven!” as the bar reached the zenith of the arc. Sam stood over him ready to catch the weight bar should he need assistance. “Look at you…goin’ to break a new record huh?”

Evan strained against the weight, but he was doing well, “Yeah! Eight!” He took in a breath and asked, “So…the brig…people are…talking.” Sam was concentrating on making sure the form was good and he looked for any dips or sudden jerky movements. He said, “Yeah? So let them talk. That wasn’t the first I’ve been inside a brig before.” The younger man took his eyes off the focus point on the ceiling and momentarily looked at Sam’s upside-down face. “Yeah?”

“Eyes on point” Sam said as the momentary lapse caused the weight bar to dip slightly to the left and wasn’t level straight again. “Focus please.” Evan returned to focus as he lifted the bar and finished the set, “Ten!” Sam helped him bring the bar up and rack it over his head. Evan’s arm muscles burned but it felt good, and he got up and shook out the muscles of his upper body and chest. “Thanks. But you started out as a bushwookie. I thought….I dunno…I just thought you guys had more discipline?”

Sam wiped down the weight bar and the bench as Evan swung his arms to cool them. A few other Marines joined them on different machines. “I am disciplined. You’re confusing patience and focus with discipline” he said. The younger Marine didn’t look too convinced. Sam didn’t feel like explaining himself and so a moment passed before he spoke, “Look, I don’t know what happened. I can’t explain it. But…it won’t happen again.”

The other man nodded, “Yeah. Sure. No worries Captain.” Now it was Sam who looked like he needed convincing. Woolheater added additional weight to each side. Increasing the weight from his last set by an additional 10 kg. “Just spot me” he said as he laid down on the bench and reached up for the bar.

“You seen the Colonel yet?” Griffin asked.

“Nope” Sam answered. He did one full dip and return as Evan stood over him ready to spot, “You worried?” he asked.

Sam answered, “Yes. Of course.”

“At least you’re honest. Some officers, if you don’t mind me saying so, some officers are full of shit.”

“Yup” Sam answered him back as he kept up the workout.

Evan told him a story, “So, back home, on Terra Nova, sometimes we’d go island hopping you know? Down in the tropical areas. For the summer, you know. When a holiday or out of school. We went after boot to celebrate before we got our deployments. One last, you know, fling. I was going to Quantico for my first explosives school and then later down in Florida on Earth.”

Sam said, “I know where Florida is.”

“Right. Yeah, so….whoa…keep you’re arms straight….nkay…yeah so we get in line and they have this old ass shuttle. Like, could only hold 14 people at a time. Looked more like a crop duster than a shuttle. And, fuel ain’t cheap. So, they have to know the weight of the shuttle before they can take off to make sure they have enough fuel in it. You follow?”

Sam said, “Un..huh…” he pushed against the bar and asked, “You keeping count?”

“Three, yes sir, I’m keeping count. So, we’re in line, like four of us and a bunch of fat tourists. And there is no way these people weighed in as little as they said they were. I could they were lying like a rug. And I hadn’t been on one of these since I was a kid. So they ask me my weight, I say, ‘Why do you need to know?’….which seemed pretty reasonable to me. That’s when they tell me that about the total weight of the shuttle and the fuel. And, I wasn’t tryin’ to be a smartass. I just said, “Fill it up. I weigh six-hundred kilos…fill-it-up!”

Sam was laser focused but the corners of his mouth were curling into a smile, “SIX!” he said as he brought the weight to the top.

“Because, I’m thinking that I don’t want to go crash diving because some tourist lied about how heavy they are. And they’ll do it too!” Evan said as he finished his story.

Sam smiled and laughed, “Eight! AWW DAMN!” he said as he almost lost his concentration thinking about the scene that Evan had painted. “You want to tap out Woolheater?” the younger stud said.

“That’ll be the day…” and he pushed against the bar and lifted it up straight and even, “NINE!”

Sam had been released from the brig 48 hours ago. And for the past 48 hours he had successfully dodged both Consul Andrinn Orin and Colonel Azhul. But his luck was about to run out. Sam was almost done with his set when he heard Andrinn coming.

“That’s your guy huh? Dude looks pissed.”

“TEN!” and Evan helped bring the bar safely back. Sam finished his set, racked the weight, sat up and said, “Awww shit!”

Andrinn walked past the other marine and straight to Sam before slapping him straight across his face. "How could you? I went down to the brig to come and talk to you, since it had been a little bit since we've last talked to one another. But, what do I see when I get down there? An empty cell and the brig officer said that you had been out for the better part of two days! How could you not tell me you were out?"

Evan reacted to Sam getting slapped with "Whoa!"

Andrinn's slap really hurt and Sam knew it was coming. He was prepared for it and he knew it was time to pay the piper.

~OK - I deserved that~ he thought. Still; it really stung. "I didn't know what to say" he looked at Andrinn who was fuming. "I didn't. I was embarassed. And I know you're busy getting on with the ship and your duties. I wanted some time to sort things out."

Griffin was still standing there looking at them both, "I can vouch for him. He was here the whole time."

Sam gave Evan a look and then looked at Andrinn, "I didn't want to bother you because....I don't know. I didn't want to hurt anybody. And I still don't know what really happened. I didn't want to even be around you...if there was still a chance I could..." he trailed off.

Evan stepped back and out of the way he quietly left and gave them some privacy.

Using his pointer finger, Andrinn put it against Sam's chest and tapped it as he said, "You think that you're the only one who has had to go through all of this and wonder? I was so afraid that the person that I was going to marry was having a mental episode or he was under the control of some alien device or something. I wasn't even sure what to believe or what I needed to do to help him. But, then, when I saw that he got out and couldn't even come by to say 'Hey, I got out but need some space,' that hurt. I'll give you all the time that you need, but I hope that you know how much this hurt."

Sam listened as he wiped his forehead. He had not considered how his action after leaving the brig would affect Andrinn. He knew that he would have been concerned, but he didn't expect this much. His thoughts turned inward and for the first time in three days he considered things from Andrinn's point-of-view. He didn't think about this before. His only thought was to get out of the brig and get to someplace familiar and just ride the storm out. "I don't know what to say..." he offered.

There were people here now. Some wanted to see what the commotion was. Others were here trying to use gym equipment. Sam spoke softly, "I'm really sorry. I wasn't thinking. You have already done so much and I know that you have a lot of responsibility. I just wanted to get out of the brig. I wanted to see you but I...it felt like - at the time - that I was being selfish to want to see you." He took a beat and sighed, "I'm sorry that you feel hurt. That was not my intention. Never was that what I wanted. I don't like asking for help. I'm used to people leaning on me. Not the other way around." He looked at Andrinn and tried to see if there was any open lanes of communication.

Andrinn was standing there and listening to Sam as he spoke, watching as the crowd was slowly starting to form around them. He leaned in and whispered, "Next time, make sure you think about stuff like that cause for all I know, they sent you out the airlock without even letting me know what was going on. Could have just sent me a message and let me know that you were out and needed some space is all. I'm just a little disappointed is all Sam, especially with all that we've been through over the time I've been onboard."

Moving slightly out of the way for privacy's sake, he looked hurt. "I'm not very good at this...whole...loving thing. I'm a dumbass. When I try to not screw things up I just make a mess of everything. Look...I need to take care of some things here. That I've been avoiding to do as well. I..." he felt the energy in the room change; he was being hunted.

"Alright. What the hell--" Naxea began while making her way through the crowd. She stopped when she saw Woolheater. She hadn't been informed of his release. That meant either he escaped which was unlikely or he was released without her being informed which was a huge breach of protocol. "Everyone dismissed." The assembled Marines instantly made themselves scarce. "Captain Woolheater. Explain yourself," she continues as she approached Woolheater and Andrinn.

He stiffened up and came to attention, "Colonel Azhul. I..." he started with, "...I think you already know Consul Orin?" he gambled with that opening. There was a lot to talk about but he had to start somewhere. Of course, the Colonel was right. There was a whole damn protocol to getting released from the brig. The way Sam got released was, how does one say, 'atypical'.

Even though he wasn't a marine, Andrinn was still a lower rank than Colonel Azhul was. He stiffened up a bit before he looked at the Colonel and replying, "This bumbling idiot was discharged from the brig a few days ago and hasn't even checked in with the man he's supposed to marry in that entire time. I was chewing him a new one, is all! I'm sorry for making a scene down here in Marine Country."

"No apologies needed, Consul Orin," Naxea said before turning her attention back to Woolheater. "Who authorized your release, Captain?"

Sam thought, ~Andrinn!!~ Instead he said, "Mmm! What a good looking question! Well Colonel, there's a story to that. True story. Ah...it all just kind of happened rather suddenly don't you know. There I was resting comfortably in the brig. Not as comfortably as here in Marine Country but adequate when Crewman Adelaide Kirkby happens by for a visit. I was, of course, nervous because of what happened and since I haven't heard shhhhhh-nothing from Medical I was concerned. But, Adele was very kind and we talked a little and she; basically, wiped the slate clean and no hard feelings. Ahem! At any rate, she leaves and has a chat with the Security officer. Nice gal, very...observant. And it was during a shift change. So, after about oh...ten or fifteen minutes...not a whole lot of clocks in the brig - maybe they fell off th wall when we crashed - at any rate, different Security guard informs me that Adele isn't going to press charges. And around a little while later, Bzzt! the forcefield drops to my area and I'm escorted to the checkout desk where we settle up. They give me a few instructions, try and not do this kind of thing again, make sure you report in and 6-8 weeks for the invoice to arrive. They hand me a survey about my stay and I wasn't going to fill it out but then I thought, "Y'know? I bet the Colonel would appreciate me sharing just how appreciative we all are for the top notch job Security does around here. Ahem, so, I fill out the card. Gather just a few knick knacks. My K-bar and such and that was it. Really a super smooth exit, very efficient. You could really tell that that department has, y'know, done some work and made a lot of progress on that end of the equation." He took a breath and wet his lips and continued, "So, I know that I need to report to you first thing. But, you were out, on an away mission they tell me and so, I thought it best to let you focus on the task at hand and I'd catch up on my paperwork. Get myself cleaned up and y'know...get some reports in. Spend a little time getting my strength up while I had time. Focus on stuff that I know would have made you proud and reflect good on the detachment. Now....ahem...it's true that I did...delay...slightly...my...availability when I was released. But you have to remember that I didn't know if what happened before was going to happen again. So, to be responsible and - and - to be a good example, I kind of sequestered myself here until things go a little calmer and I had a chance to talk with you and catch up with you. Then, absolutely, I was going to connect with the Consul here. I just hadn't gotten around to it. Yet. Ma'am" he finished. Caught a breath and glanced in her direction.

"I don't enjoy these surprises, Captain. You should have reported to me the instant you were released," Naxea began, crossing her arms. And I'll deal with those idiots in Security that failed to take proper procedure and notify me of your pending release before doing so. You're still on restricted duty. Your movements will be closely monitored. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am. Understood" he said with a nod his eyes forward.

"I don't like these surprises either. You should have come and find both of us, instead of us finding you. Colonel, I'll make sure that he reports in on time every single day, even if I have to drag him down here myself. As for you, my quarters at 1800hrs or I'll personally drag you back to the brig myself. Understood, Captain?" Andrinn said, slightly tugging at Sam's ear, making sure he understood the severity of what was going on.

Sam was so embarassed to be dressed down by both the Colonel and Consul Orin. He felt like a kid at the Principal's office. The tugging at his ear made him feel juvenile, "Aye sir."

Naxea sighed. She was tired and had a lot going on at the moment. "Also, the medics informed me that they believe they know what is causing your nightmares," Naxea said.

He could see the exhaustion on her face and in the way she stood. He hoped that he could be returned to duty ASAP. And when she that last part, his eyes grew wide, "Ma'am? What? Did you say they know what's causing my nightmares?"

"Basically the medics believe that a fungus you inhaled while on the ice planet was allowed to fester after you were administered the transporter inhibitor, causing your nightmares to intensify. However, they believe they can formulate a cure but believe you shouldn't take anymore transport inhibitor injections. They still need to run a final test to be certain."

And, SNAP! Just like that his mood lightened and he felt instantly better. He didn't know what fungus or where he picked it up from. It didn't matter now; there was hope. None of this was just all in his head. Now there was a cause, a reason for the mystery. It took him a moment to process it; stunned as he was. All he could say with such relief was, "That's good. That's real good then."

"Yeah, I'm glad that the medic have got a better understanding of what was going on with Sam. But, that doesn't excuse your behavior, mister. I'm still expecting you in my quarters every morning and evening before and after your shift, to make sure that you don't go running off to some random planet because it's calling out to you in some nightmare or something!" Andrinn said, relieved to hear that the medical team had started to figure out what was going on with Sam and were working on a cure.

There was a beat and then a moment of silence which the Colonel did not fill. Leaving it open for Sam to respond to Andrinn. Which he interpreted would align with the conditions that the Colonel already spelled out. His mind was racing with relief and expectation, confusion and concern. He answered Andrinn, "Yes Consul, as much as my restricted duty will allow." The Colonel had put him on restricted duty which had limits on his time and his movements about the ship.

Then he said, "Thank you. Both of you. I apologize for how I handled this badly. I didn't know what was wrong with me; I didn't trust myself and I didn't know who to bother. At the time sequestering seemed the best choice. At the time."


[OFF:]