"Drunken Sailors"
Previous post: "Executive Investigation"
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, The Black Hole Lounge
Nico and Uxtar had just downed their sixth pitcher each and were watching their third mate struggle to keep up. Prav was a good two pitchers behind now, and was looking decidedly worse for the wear. The women at the table were also watching him with concern as his speech was slurring and his eyes were having a hard time focusing.
A couple tables over, also drinking heavily, were a half dozen men from the maintenance crew who had been tasked with the ANUBIS's repairs. They had just finished a long double shift and were unwinding almost as hard as Uxtar and friends were celebrating. Some of the workers were eyeing the women at Uxtar's table and making comments just out of earshot. One particularly drunk and obnoxious worker made eye contact with Maya and openly leered at her, looking her up and down, and licking his lips, making her extremely uncomfortable.
"Maybe we should call it a night." Maya suggested. "I wonder if one of you would be kind enough to escort me to my quarters?"
"Nonsense!" Uxtar answered, "We are just getting started."
Prav, however, was not so drunk, that he missed his opportunity to leave while he could still walk. At least he thought he could still walk.
"I'll be delighted to walk you home." he said rising unsteadily from his seat using the table to steady himself.
Lea and Susan also rose to leave, not sure if they would have to steady Prav or not. As it turned out, once on his feet for a second or two, the floor stopped moving enough for him to remain upright. The four departing celebrants bade good night to Nico and Uxtar, who fully intended on continuing their celebration. As they made their way to the door, they passed the rowdy table of maintenance workers.
Two of the workers stood, and maneuvered into the path of the three women and one very drunk marine.
Maya's would be admirer addressed her. "Hey there, sweet pants, you're not going to bed so early, at least not alone I hope."
Pravat, though far from sober, ratcheted himself a few notches closer to clarity. "Sit down and have another drink partner. One more word and you'll be a stain on the floor."
"Relax, jar head", Clod # 1 responded, "We just thought that since you're too drunk to show the lady here a good time, we could do it for you."
True to his word, a straight right hand from Pravat to the jaw of Mr. Smooth-talker dropped him to the floor in a heap. From there, the rest of the maintenance crew pounced on Pravat like a pack of wild hyena. In seconds Uxtar and Nico were out of their chairs and into the fray.
The brawl was a short one, with Uxtar, Nico, and Pravat standing in the end, and six maintenence workers on the floor with a variety of injuries. Several tables and chairs in the lounge also suffered substantial collateral damage.
When it was over Nico used his Comm badge to summon security to clean up the mess. He was already dreading Serenna's wrath when she got wind of the fracas.
"Uxtar, why don't you and Prav get the women to quarters," he said, "I'll stay and deal with security." He really wanted Pravat out of the picture before security showed up. With the Enaran's state of intoxication there would be no way for Nico to put a positive spin on this.
Uxtar, reading Nico's thoughts, "I'll stay with you, friend.", as he made a head motion for Maya to get Pravat out of site.
Mere seconds after Lea, Susan, Maya, and Prav were out the door, a contingent of Nico's security arrived and looked to him for direction. He ordered his team to escort the injured workers to sickbay for treatment of their injuries and then to escort them off the ship. That done, Nico and Uxtar did their best to help the Black Hole staff clean up. While doing so, they both urged the waitresses and other witnesses to chose their words carefully, were they ever to be questioned on the incident. Careers could hang in the balance. Once Nico was confident all the witnesses statements would be vague at best, he made his way to sickbay.
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Nico was relieved to see none of the maintenance workers were released from sickbay before he arrived. He was successfully able to speak to all the combatants and "convince" them it was in their best interest not to pursue the matter. If questioned, none of them would be sure how it started or who threw the first punch. That done, Nico then spoke with the on-duty medical staff and gave them his version of the truth that, he hoped, would be the only version to surface.
His last act, before retiring was to drop a PADD on Serenna's desk (thankfully she was out) with his report of the "minor" incident in the Black Hole. He made a mental note to himself to catch up with his fellow celebrants in the morning for breakfast, so they could get their story straight, and all tell Serenna the same version of the events.
### 2005 post #499
Stardate: 60328.2030
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Sickbay
Stardate: 60328.2115
Jammie Thouin {lone-gunman@att.net}
Nicodemus Rostov
Chief of Security/Tactical Officer
USS Anubis
--
"Folks said she was a bad girl,
but I loved her anyway."
-Angry Johnny
