The Robes of Appearance

Posted on Fri Jul 19th, 2024 @ 4:28pm by Captain Samuel Woolheater

Mission: Season 6 HIATUS
Location: DECK THIRTY-TWO - MARINE COUNTRY
Timeline: That Evening
1666 words - 3.3 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON:]

USS ELYSIUM – IN ORBIT ABOVE EDEN’S REACH – DECK THIRTY-TWO – MARINE COUNTRY - THAT EVENING


It was noisy and busy and active on the Marine deck this evening. Sam Woolheater took the time to clean and maintain his TR-116 rifle. While many Marines did not like weapons maintenance, Sam found it relaxing and a rather enjoyable task. It gave him a sense of accomplishment, pride and satisfaction to keep the thing that might save a life or the life of someone else clean and it top working order.

He was in the armory and had his rifle completely dismantled on the workbench. Each piece he carefully looked at and wiped clean. He looked for scoring on the rifle. He checked the energy cells and the ignition and firing chambers and measured the confinement beam. He tweaked the ignition chamber up a notch. And he always spent a lot of time on the trigger and the sight alignment. Getting it all down to a matter of microns. He relaxed as he did it. After a day of work and training this was fun.

As he worked, he listened to Marine yakking it up outside in the parade ground. The door to the armory was open, but no one came inside and so he worked alone enjoying the peace.

As he worked, his mind drifted to a camping trip he took with his father and his younger brother. Oh…ten or fifteen years ago now. A full day from early morn until nightfall hunting and fishing. Those were good times. He remembered this one night, after Sam had bagged two deer that day and how proud his dad was of him. Telling him that he had a real gift. A keen eye that he would do well as a hunter. That was, a few years before Samuel joined up with the Marine Corps. George Woolheater was…not happy about that.

Sam sighed as he pushed away the negative thoughts and chose to return to that time when all the world was right. Barclay, his younger brother, was a fair shot. But clearly Sam was better. Barclay was much better at fishing.

As the day was ending, they sat around a campfire. Their sleeping bags were arranged around the fire and on outdoor mats to keep the damp and the dank and the bugs at bay. Sam was watching the fire as it danced in the firepit. Barclay was sitting up listening as their father said, “You both did very well today. I’m proud of both of you. Learning these skills will help you. And you’ll never be afraid to strike out on your own. Because you know how to live and you know how to survive. But, that being said, I don’t want you to forget that your strength, your youth…your good eyes and ears. Those are all gifts. Use them to help others and yourselves. Be kind and be humble. You will go far sons.

Then George said, “Listen and I’ll tell you a bedtime story.”

“A ghost story?” Barclay asked as he perked up.

George shook his head, “No. Now, lie back, look up at the stars if you like or keep your eyes closed. There you go. Listen to the crackling of the fire. Hear the crickets? Listen to my voice,” he said and Sam and Barclay closed their eyes and listened.

“Once in a tranquil coastal village not far from us here, there lived an old man named Aric. In his youth, Aric had been a handsome warrior, admired for his bravery and striking beauty. Now, frail and weathered by time, used up by battle and victory, he felt invisible, a shadow of his former self. Always on the move, he never found time for love. Loneliness consumed him, and the thought of dying alone tormented his weary heart. Determined to end his suffering, he decided to cast himself into the sea from a high cliff. So high that the sound of the waves below him was faint. And the wind was in his face as was the sun.

As Aric approached the edge of the cliff, he asked himself. "Why does a tree have to lose its leaves in autumn? Why does every beautiful face grow in old age wrinkled like the back of a Anzadian lizard? Why does a full head of hair get bald? Why is the tall, straight, muscular figure that divided the ranks like a spear now bend and break almost double? Why is it that, I who was once called a lion of strength suffer and weaken to nothing? I was once like a wrestler. A wrestler who could hold anyone down. But now, I have to be hed out with two people supporting me, their shoulders under my arms. It’s the 24th century. Why does this still happen?"

These questions burdened him and the more he thought about his past, the more depressed and determined he became to end it all.

On the day he chose to end his life, an old woman named Elara was gathering herbs near the cliff. Elara had lived in the seaside town all her life and had known Aric from afar when he was a celebrated warrior. She had loved him silently, captivated not by his physical beauty or his heroic deeds, but by the gentleness she saw in his eyes. To her, those eyes revealed the true beauty of his soul.

As Aric stood on the precipice, ready to jump, Elara noticed the figure of the old man. She was some ways off yet but she thought he might jump. She called out to him, her voice trembling with fear.

"Stop! Please, don't do this," she cried.

Aric turned, surprised that anyone would care. Elara hurried to the old man and when she got closer their eyes met, Elara saw the same soul she had loved all those years ago. She walked towards him and then she recognized him. Not by his looks for they were gone. She met his eyes and that is where she found him.

"I remember you, Aric. Not for the warrior you once were, but for the kindness in your eyes. The soul I see through them is still as beautiful as ever. You are not alone."

Aric, stunned by her words, felt a warmth he had long forgotten. In Elara's eyes, he saw genuine love and recognition. It was not his past glory that mattered to her, but the essence of who he truly was.

“Elara? I remember you. You remember me?” Aric asked her and turned away from the cliff.

She smiled and put her hands together, “Of course I remember you. I could never forget you.”

The old man was a bit confused. No one in town hd recognized him for who he was. So he asked her, “But Elara, how did you know it was me? I haven’t seen you or been in this town for years? And look at me? I am so old and worn out now? I am not the same person you once knew.”

She put her hand on him, “I knew it was you as soon as I saw your eyes. I could see right through them all the way to where you are. And I knew it was you. You are still as handsome and as beautiful as ever.”

Aric said, “But I am old now. My strength is gone, I can no longer carry even a sword or a spear?”

Elara said, “Those things were never who you really are. They were given to you on loan. You put on borrowed robes and pretended they were yours. You forgot that you borrowed them? Possiamo, the Monarch of the Sky says, “I take the beautiful clothes back, so that you will learn the robe of appearance is only a loan. Your true beauty is on the inside.”

Elara took his hand and led him away from the cliff. Together, they walked back to the seaside village, where they spent the rest of their days in each other’s company. Aric learned that true beauty lies not in physical appearance or past achievements, but in the enduring kindness and love within one's soul. Even in our darkest moments, we may find light in the recognition of our true selves by those who see beyond the surface. The outer beauty and strength we once wore were but borrowed robes, reminders that our true essence is eternal and beyond physical form. So, my sons, Samuel and Barclay, be grateful for your gifts. Be humble that you have them. Be generous in their usefulness to others. And I shall always love you.”

Sam had drifted off, but he awoke again at the silence of his dad’s voice. Barclay was fast asleep. Only the nighttime sounds and the little campfire made sounds. Sam turned over to look at his dad.

George was in his camping chair, drinking his coffee. He noticed Sam awake and said, “Get some sleep Sam. I’ll keep watch a bit longer.”

Sam nodded, “OK dad.”

=====

Suddenly Sam was back in the armory, he mouthed, “OK dad” as he relived that moment. The last of his sniper rifle snapped into place. It was a good job. He was satisfied. He carefully put the rifle back in his weapons locker and closed the door. He stood there a moment and said quietly, “I miss you dad; I guess a part of you is here. But I still miss you all the same.”

Sam walked out o the armory and into the noise and the fray of the evening. The memory of the campfire, so many years ago brought him some peace, some fond memories and a kind of heartache for home.


[OFF:]

Captain Samuel Woolheater
“Saepius Exertus, Semper Fidelis, Frater Infinitas”
Division VI, MARDET 62nd Company "Spartans", 1st Platoon CO
=/\= USS ELYSIUM - NCC-89000 =/\=