"Waking Up"

Posted on Tue Apr 5th, 2022 @ 6:45pm by Lieutenant Nikosh Targus

598 words; about a 3 minute read

"Waking Up"
Personal Log
Lt. Nikosh mok Targus
SD 2022-04-05

. Nikosh awoke and glanced around. His eyes stung from the harsh light. As he moved his head, a terrible pain shot through from his eyes all the way to the back of his head. He tried to lick his lips around his tusks but his mouth was dry. He lifted a hand to wipe at his face and the hand trembled and felt as if it weighed three times its usual weight. He grunted and tried to sit up, feeling another massive throb of a headache and a wave of nausea passed through him, but he managed to get semi-vertical.
. "Vhere am I, eh?" he mumbled.
. A voice called out, "Awake are ye?" To Nikki it seemed the man had shouted way too loud and it sent more earthquakes through his skull. There was a pounding echo as huge footfalls echoed down a narrow corridor. A blurry shape materialized in front of Nikki. He squinted against the glare, raised a trembling hand to block the shockingly bright light.
. The shape shouted again, "Just who ye might be, then?"
. Nikki groaned again, his own voice sounding much too loud. "Nikosh mok Targus, Starfleet Lieutenant, Science Specialist from the USS Roddenberry." Finally Nikki noticed his clothing seemed encrusted with something and he looked down at his chest. He was wearing civilian clothing and didn't even have his commbadge on. He realized the crusty stuff on his shirt was ... dried vomit? "Ugh," he grumbled.
. "Well then," the shouter said, "we'll just have to check that out then, won't we?" He paused, the blurry blob on the top of the mass moved up and down, probably sizing Nikki up. "So, do you remember anything about last night?"
. Nikki groaned again and started, "Ve had just docked. I left ze ship through ze airlock door trying to be ze first vuns vith R&R, yes? Dere vas someting cooking nearby so I vent looking for food, no? And vith ze food vun must have drink, yes? And den more food and more drink ...," he trailed off. It was apparent he'd been on a binge. But ... where was he now? He couldn't remember how he'd gotten there.
. The looming mass slowly started to take on definition. He looked to be humanoid at least. There was a head atop shoulders, two arms and two legs. He was wearing some kind of tan or beige clothing and had a dark mass of tightly curled hair on top of his head. Something dangled from one ear and to Nikki's ears it seemed to clang like cymbals.
. "You are Bajoran, yes?" Nikki asked.
. The man grunted. The sound seemed to reverberate through the chamber and Nikki flinched. But flinching made his head pound again. "Well, you ain't blind are ye? Yep, Bajoran Security, Deep Space Nine. You're in the drunk tank, Mr. Targus. Fortunately, it doesn't appear you committed any crime other than public drunkenness, and maybe littering for the puddle of nasty stuff we found you laying in." He chuckled, the noise of it rattling Nikki's skull.
. Nikki groaned again, clutching his head in both hands. "Ze Keptin vill kill me, yes?"
. The Bajoran jailer laughed again, "Aye, probably so."
. Nikki looked up and asked, "So, vhen do I get out, eh?"
. "Oh, well, we picked you up about 0300 and it's nearly 1500 now, so ... I think as soon as I feel you're sober enough, you can go."
. Nikki dropped back onto the cot. "Not sober enough." He groaned again. "Ze Keptin vill kill me."

===== END LOG =====

 

RSS Feed