Untitled Donovan - 21104.01

By Jordan Donovan

The room was dimly lit by a single source, suspended only about a meter above the occupants’ heads. The four team leaders sat in various degrees of their duty uniforms, along with their department head, the weekly poker game was well under way. Cigar smoke mingled around and above their heads as well, adding to the dark and dingy atmosphere. The four men and one woman were each drinking what appeared to be their individual preferences, varying from a simple bottle of ale or glass of wine, to the iconic tumbler with ice and several fingers of amber liquid.

“Crewman Perry doing ok?” Donovan asked nonchalantly as he lifted up one edge of the two cards he held face down on the green felt table top.

“First time usually isn’t easy Chief.” The trill woman said as she tossed her two cards into the center, letting her hands fall palms down on her thighs with a light smacking sound. “Or the second one either.” She added, crossing her arms and looking to see who else would stay in for the hand.

“Sure as hell wasn’t for me anyway.” Jordan picked up his glass and took a quick but deep swig from it. He held the scotch over his tongue for a second, before he let it trickle down his throat, warming him from the inside out as it made its way down. “And in my case, I practically still a kid when it happened.”

• * *

There was blood on my hands, and all I could do was stare down at it in horror. Dripping down into the ground, the warm and sticky blood felt like it was burning into my skin, and I just wanted to scream. My reality was coming down all around me, and I simply couldn’t handle it.

But that’s not how it started.

As you could most likely guess, I was no child prodigy when it came to my school work, not by a long shot. So when I informed my folks that I intended to apply to The Academy, with the goal of commissioning in the Star Fleet JAG Corps no less, they had some serious concerns. Of course, they turned out to be right, and I got flatly rejected. Fortunately, I had been attending a private military-style secondary school, because I was able to continue my studies and re-apply the following year. Something in my application must have tipped the scales, probably my sheer perseverance, as I was admitted in a last minute decision, or by the skin of my teeth as my father would say.

When I received my notification of appointment to The Academy, my whole family was jubilant. To celebrate, my older brother Colin, and my older sister and middle child Adrienne, planned a vacation of sorts. I was almost nineteen at the time, and had already participated in my share of adolescent behavior mischief. So, when Colin and Adrienne came to me with their plan, it sounded like the perfect way to celebrate my achievements. If only I could have known how wrong I would be…

Both my brother and my sister were scholarly, Colin studying to be a professor, and Adrienne a museum curator. They had always done well in schooling, and therefore avoided any intense parental scrutiny while they were growing up. With my less-than-stellar marks in courses I had no interest in, specifically maths and sciences, I was always under my folks’ proverbial microscope. Thus, when it was my oldest brother who suggested to my parents, that the three of us siblings take a little trip during the summer holiday, they had no reservations. What Colin hadn’t shared with them, was his plans to show us a locale that was known to be less than upright in their adherence to certain ordinances involving authentic ethyl-alcohol in their beverages and the ages of the customers to which they serve such drinks. The place was on Kaferia, the third planet in the Tau Ceti system, and only a few hours by shuttle.

“How did you even find out about this place?” I asked, skeptical and still a bit nervous about the whole thing.

“Well, I would say you’ll find out at university, but I don’t think you’ll have the same kinda freedom I had when you’re a cadet. “ He laughed a bit, but I wasn’t quite sure I got the joke.

“But it’s a student thing Jord. Relax…” Colin’s tone was a little arrogant, but I knew he was speaking from experience, so I didn’t immediately respond.

“Yeah Jord, seriously, it’ll be great. “ Adrienne chimed in, “It’s not a big deal, we’ll have a great time.”

I smiled and relaxed a little, trying to more so as I replied. “OK, you’re right.” I paused as I sat back in my seat and looked forward at nothing in particular. “I’m looking forward to this.” I may have been telling myself as much as I was my siblings.

The rest of the trip there went uneventfully, and as I always do, I quickly dozed into a light sleep for the remainder. It was the gentle jolt of the anti-grave thrusters that woke me. I picked up the PADD I had attempted, and failed due to slumber, to read from and put it into my carry-on bag. We only planned to stay for a little more than a day, so packing had been fairly easy. I didn’t really know what to expect as we disembarked from the shuttle, as Colin’s descriptions had been vague at best.

Checking into our hotel was quick and easy. It wasn’t incredibly lavish when it came to the accommodations, but a three bedroom suite was still impressive to me, as I had never spent a significant amount of time in any sort of hotel before. The idea of how it was paid for hadn’t even dawned on me, still thinking that most of the quadrant was like us in the Federation, and operated in a moneyless society. It was my repeated lack of any sort of attention to detail that could have made things play out differently, but at that age, I still simply didn’t know any better.

None of us were particularly hungry, but the evening was still young, so we planned, with the advice of my brother, to find a place on his mental list of ‘special’ establishments, that offered any sort of light fare. Bars, restaurants, and we all know what other kinds of businesses lined both sides of the road for maybe a kilometer or more in each direction Having changed into some slightly more dressy attire, I paid more attention to the other passersby as we walked along what looked like the main strip. Mostly humanoid, but also mostly avoiding eye contact, the general populous all seemed to have somewhere to go at that hour, and no interest in experiencing the process of going. There were, of course, the occasional street vendor or crier for a tavern or eatery that made intentional contact as we passed, but they were just doing their jobs.

Again, thanks to my brothers apparent familiarity with the area, it didn’t take us long before he stopped us outside a particularly non-descript building, with a single entrance and a menacing looking Naussican leaned up against the wall adjacent to the door. Smiling politely, and maybe a little too much so, we followed Colin as he approached the gruff bouncer, and attempted to shake his hand. I saw a glint of something and recognized a few slips of latinum in my brother’s palm.

“So good to see you again my friend.” Colin said in greeting, trying and failing to appear casual.

He got only a grunt in return, but the bouncer took the payment and allowed us through unmolested. I was in shock, I had only thought these sorts of exchanges happened in the holovids! And how had my perfect student of a brother learned to wheel and deal like that? There was a lot more that I didn’t know as well.

The interior of what turned out to be nothing more than your typical dive bar, was even more gloomy and stuffy than the street outside. The noise was lively enough, with some indistinguishable non-human music playing in the background. Leading us to a small circular table with high stools, Colin grinned to the two of us proudly, as if he had owned the place.

“So, whatddya think?” He asked, looking from me to Adrienne expectantly. My sister was the first to answer.

“So it’s a bar Colin, big deal.” She rolled her eyes but smiled playfully, also trying to play it cool, although I think she was honestly impressed.

I, on the other hand, was still rather flabbergasted. I don’t know if my mouth was actually hanging open, but it very well might have as I stammered out my first words since coming through the door.

“Whe..where did you get that latinum Colin?!” I asked, a little louder than I should have.

My sister cringed a bit as she clearly agreed with the sentiment, looking around defensively, but she remained silent. Colin grinned even more triumphantly now, and produced maybe a dozen or so more slips to display proudly on the table.

“Remember my semester I spent on Ferenginar?” he asked ever so coyly, but I had no retort. “Well, let’s just say I picked up a thing or two, OK?” He winked, to add to the ridiculousness of his attitude.

At that point, there wasn’t much else I could do but laugh. It was all so absurd to me, and highly uncomfortable, that laughing was really all I had. But, and it very well might have been the cause, a striking and scantily glad green-skinned Orion waitress appeared out of nowhere, as a fly drawn to the honey of the unabashedly displayed pile of latinum still on the table.

“Can I get you all anything to drink?” She flashed a smile of pearly white teeth, a striking comparison with the hue of her skin causing my eyes not to move from her, and to slowly travel downwards to her face.

“First round is on me. The good stuff, all around.” Colin said, not nearly as phased by the nearly-naked woman as I was. The emphasis he had put on the wording was lost on me, but quickly became clear when she returned a moment later with what had apparently been the main goal of our entire escapade.

“There you go guys.” Colin was still playing the cunning faux-host, and still grinning as the waitress put a double-sized shot glass in front of each of us, and began to fill the trio with a dark amber liquid.

“Real Saurian Brandy.” Colin narrated as the waitress finished pouring. “And leave the bottle!” He said to her enthusiastically, her own eyes darting to the latinum pile on the table.

It was about that time that somewhere near the bar proper, the bouncer had come in from outside, and was conferring with the Rigelian bar tender. Witnesses would later say, after some heavy convincing from local authorities, that the pair had been talking to each other about the three of us, but at that time, we had no idea.

My brother paid the waitress and she left us to our drinks. Toasts to my appointment to the academy, to a fun evening ahead of us, and to siblings were made all around, and we proceeded to drink far more of the authentic alcohol than was wise to do in such an unfamiliar place. Adrienne had slipped off to find a lavatory, and our waitress had come back to sweeten us up, and probably see if she could get Colin to part with more of his latinum.

I shot my glance away, and only for a second, but that was long enough. I had looked toward the hidden and a dark hallway I had thought I saw my sister go down, and saw a flash of movement, of what looked like two joined bodies, exit through a door I hadn’t noticed on the side of the hallway. Excusing myself, I headed the same direction. I found the door to be just that, and that’s when I heard her scream.

I instantly knew what it was, my sister was in trouble, and had been taken by none other than the Naussican bouncer. It had almost worked, as my brother and I were quite intoxicated, and captivated by our waitress. But fate had something else in mind for the three of us. I pushed through the physical door and found myself in an adjoining alley-way outside the bar. The Naussican had my sister with one arm around her neck, and another around her waist, easily hefting her toward a waiting transport halfway down the alley.

“Hey!” I screamed with rage, not waiting for an answer, my adrenaline pumped as I immediately sprinted to close the distance. My mind wasn’t thinking, it was all reaction now. Fight or flight had kicked in, and it was fight that had taken over. My yell and fast approach scared off whomever had been driving the idling transport, but the Naussican had spun around, holding Adrienne tightly between himself and me as I sped toward him, at full speed in my run now.

“Stop or I’ll..” He had started to say, but not quick enough.

I bowled right into him, fist coming into contact with his incredibly hard forehead, colliding with, but freeing my sister from his grasp. We both were prone on the alley ground now, my sister crawling away and yelling for help. To this day I thank the stars for my martial arts training in secondary school, for that’s the only reason my sister and I are still alive.

My adversary produced a blade from somewhere, and charged toward me in a clumsy but violent manner. Rolling away, he instead collided with the ground and adjacent wall, and that was all the opportunity I needed. I clamped both hands on each side of his head, and smashed. Repeatedly, until my hands were covered with his blood, and his body was still and lifeless.

• * *

Taking a few deliberate and careful puffs from his dwindling cigar, the end glowing bright orange as he did so, Jordan let the fragrant smoke slowly wisp from his separated lips. Picking up his tumbler, seeing that the scotch was gone now, and only partial ice cubes remained. They clinked lightly as he gave it a small shake before finally speaking up again. “But still, that first man still didn’t make the second any easier, that’s for damned sure.”