From DagPiccolo@aol.com Sun Jan 18 21:11:05 1998 Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 19:40:49 EST From: DagPiccolo Reply-To: seaquest-ff@stgenesis.org To: seaquest-ff@stgenesis.org Subject: [seaQuest-ff] (sq-ff) EDITED VERSION: Failures Dignity FAILURE^ÒS DIGNITY by Tammy Marie Nezol Okay I edited it!!!!!! Maybe now it's readable Hmm, I probably shouldn't be sending this out during finals, it may be jinxing me. Either way maybe this is the right time, because this is how I feel when I am studying for them. This story is supposed to be uplifting, but if you don't take it that way I won't be offended. Comments and suggestions and flames welcome anytime. ;) Disclaimer: The characters in this book belong to amblin entertainment. This story is mine. Let me know what you think. It didn't turn out as good as I expected. If you absolutely hate the prologue you can skip it and go straight to the rest of the story. Don't give up just because of the prologue. Don't go by first looks, this is NOT a Lucas story.. it just seems that way at first. However there is alot of Lucas in it. Dedicated to my sister Maryia, who has done this to me more than once. Prologue The only thing Lucas Wolenczak noticed as his eyes fluttered open was the unbearable cold. Letting out a shiver, he cuddled his blanket closer to his body. "How you feeling?" an Italian voice laced with a Brooklyn accent inquired. "Fine, why?" Lucas replied, still partly asleep. "I was just wondering" Piccolo explained. "You better get ready for work, if your late again Hudson's going to flip." Lucas looked at the warrant officer carefully. He looked like a mess: tired, worn out, and rushed. He grabbed a blue duffel from his bottom bunk and placed it on his shoulder and raced out of the room. With a tiring yawn Lucas set his feet on the edge of his bed, moving his eyes to focus on the clock. Strangely enough the digital screen showed nothing but blankness. More than likely someone had tripped over the cord. The ensign blinked his eyes and focused in on his watch. "06:50 hours" Just enough time to get breakfast and make his way up to the bridge. As always, he clutched his blanket against his shoulder and jumped down from the top bunk. For some reason he couldn't figure out, the blanket seemed heavier and warmer than usual. He shrugged it off as his imagination and turned on his nearby computer. A few disorderly papers cluttered around the desk and his keyboards, obviously some report form not yet organized. "Ugh.. Tony.." he groaned as he flung the papers off his keyboard, most of the papers fell to the floor. It was at this time that he saw Tony^Òs bed. It was covered in unruly sheets, but lacked in it's most essential tool: a blue blanket. A sudden flash of realization crossed through the computer analysts mind as he unclutched the blanket from his shoulders. Sure enough, explaining the extra warmth and heaviness, there was not one blanket, but curiously enough, there were two. A small bleep came from his computer as it beckoned him to enter his password for the internex. His arms now free of the blanket, he reached over towards the keyboard, his shoulder colliding with a mini-glass which in turn fell to the floor with a crash. A small amount of some orange liquid leaked onto the scattered report. "Ugh!" Lucas felt like screaming, could this day have started any worse? Rushing for a cloth he wiped down the floor, saving as many papers as possible, but it was clear the well typed report was beyond relief. With a sigh he placed the papers together, then typed his password into the keys. He was online within seconds, welcomed by a voice saying: "You have mail." The mouse's arrow moved it's way to the small mailbox. there was one piece of mail, and it was from Frankenstein (AKA himself). His eyebrows deepened as he opened the e-mail: Hope you feel better, kid! =) -Tony PS: Wish me luck ;) ____________________________________________________________________ The day before Anthony Piccolo yawned as he looked at the clock 23:00 hours. He knew he shouldn't have attended the poker game, but he had had money in his pocket and the game needed an extra player. Quietly he made his way across the room and turned on a small lightlamp, careful not to awake the ensign blissfully unconscious on the top bunk. How he envied him... Turning on the computer he was glad to find the path to the writing area easy to find. He didn't know much about computer's, and unless it was to impress a girl he never pretended to. But all the months of watching his roommate type furiously away at the keyboard had taught him a thing or two. Cautiously he glanced behind his shoulder, the ensign was still out-cold. Silently he contemplated between the greater of two evils: the report to be placed on Hudson's desk first thing tomorrow morning, or the last minute review before he left to take his officer's exam. His hands lay still for only a few minutes. Slowly beginning the typing of Hudson's expected report. It was all very boring, pages expected and nothing but rocks and other debris to mention. Now he knew why people in higher ranks had gotten so good at Bull Shit, years of pointless reports were to blame. By the second sentence the bed beckoned, telling him to move closer, like a seductive mistress with an offer that could not be refused. Yawning, he managed to shake off the temptation. Once he had the first paragraph written, and the temptation was unbelievable, he found himself setting his alarm for 03:00 hours. Just a little sleep was all he needed. He slipped under the blankets and closed his eyes. It seemed like only seconds later when he was awakened by the sound of hacking. "Lucas?" he groaned. But the ensign was to busy coughing to answer. The blanket felt so warm against his back, and he feared the cold that would welcome him the second he got up. A glance at the clock told him it was 01:00 hours he still had an hour and a half of sleep to buy. Lucas had ceased in his coughing, for a few brief seconds, but just as the warrant officer had started to doze off he was once again awakened by the familiar sound. He remembered being a child, how his mother would come to him in the mid of night with a glass of water or juice to soothe his coughing. By all rights, Lucas, the only kid he knew with parents who wouldn^Òt do this, deserved such compassion at least once in his life. For a second he contemplated letting the ensign suffer, at least then he could lie comfortably in the comfy covers, shielded from the cold. But every time he closed his eyes, he could see his nagging mother. Reluctantly he got up, went to the messhall, and grabbed a short glass. At first he went to fill it with water, but then remembered what some crewman had said about the water coming out brown. Instead he grabbed the nearest drink: Orange juice. Not necessarily great for the stomach, but it was convenient. He returned to the room minutes later and said "here." as he half shoved the drink in Lucas's hands. How he hated his conscience. Taking a deep breath and taking a gulp of the liquid, Lucas muttered: "Thanks." With only a little left back in the glass he handed the glass back to the warrant officer, offering a smile in return. Tony managed to give a half-hearted smile in return. Then with a yawn, he placed the glass on the table. This time it was the computer that beckoned to him. Since he was already up, he took a seat and continued to type. He typed well into the early morning (At one point he moved to procrastination and figured out how to send Lucas an email). At 02:00 hours he took a step back from the computer, not bothering to organize the printout. In all senses he was done. Now all he had left was the dreaded studying. It was around this time that Lucas had stumbled out of his bunk. He glared one closed eye at Tony. He tripped over a number of objects (including a certain electrical cord), but eventually made it out of the quarters. He returned seconds later and returned to sleep. Piccolo watched with little interest as he went on with his business. It took but a few minutes to organize his notes and seat himself ready to study. Deep breath. There were so many papers, so many books, an infinite sea ready to drown him in impossible mechanics. All of it kept him from a peaceful dream. Once again a deep breathe. He reached over to pick up one of the books that was unprecedented in heaviness. Even turning the pages was like lifting a 50 ton weight. Above him Wolenczak shifted from one position to another. The warrant officer yawned. How he wished he could sleep. Judging it was about 02:35 he guessed he could still get some rest. Anyways, he was ready for the test, he didn't need any last second studying. Didn't he hear someone say sleeping before a test was more important than studying? He was prepared enough, he needed sleep, even if it was only for 25 minutes (he still planned to get some studying done). Standing up, he moved towards the bed. Wolenczak was shifting position again, his shivering intense. Yawning, Piccolo slipt back into the bed. Before long he was bundled up in the blanket, comfortable, and so close to sleep. Merely closing his eyes made him have a dream of sorts. Then he heard his friend shift once more. He wondered if Fedricks's chip could also take away guilt. With a sigh the warrant officer removed himself from the blanket, and standing up, placed it around his shivering friend. Despite the shivering, Lucas was still asleep. Then he moved back down to the bottom bunk and closed his eyes. It was so cold. Nothing was wrong with the environmental controls, he was just so use to the comfort and warmth of his blanket, to keep him company at night. The top sheet was not an equal replacement. And so he tried to sleep. And he tried. And then he himself began to shiver. Soon he was shifting, so close to dreamland, to tired to get up, but unable to fall asleep. He guessed he still had a few minutes left to rest, before studying once more. After a while of laying there his body adjusted, and though it still shivered, the warrant officer managed to make it to dream land. It was not necessarily a pleasant dream, but at least he was asleep. The next morning he awoke. The ship had gone back to it's daytime lighting. He cuddled against the pillow, more comfortable then he had ever been in his life. Then he remembered something. Something that seemed to nag at him. "OH SHIT!!!" he shouted as he noticed the clock was not showing the time. Observation showed it's cord had somehow become unplugged. He looked at the watch on his hand and was more than shocked to see it was 06:30 hours. Letting out a sniffle, he rushed to get dressed doing everything necessary. He then woke up his roommate. Then sprinting out of the room, he didn't notice the disorderly report left on the desk. The one Hudson had ordered on his desk first thing in the morning. THE END Written byTammy Marie Nezol: January 1998 --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: seaQuest-ff-unsubscribe@stgenesis.org For additional commands, e-mail: seaQuest-ff-help@stgenesis.org