There's a Tear in My Beer

Posted on Wed Jun 2nd, 2021 @ 2:24am by Lieutenant Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell

Mission: Trapped in Time
Location: USS Liberty
Timeline: Before arrival at DS9

He paraded them about the ship, looking for a nice quiet place to chat with his guests. Several of them requested quarters right away. The older man, Bernoff, retired to a room by himself after asking only one question. "Do you know if my family was provided for after I was labeled lost?"

Remal didn't have an answer but promised to find out. Meanwhile the couple who turned hijackers were antsy to disappear and refused to converse anymore than was necessary. So Remal placed them in quarters across the hall from the Major and the Commander. He felt they would be safe within reach of the Majors authority.

The only remaining party consisted of a curious Doge, an adventurous Salaya and an uninterested yet tired looking Naprem, who Salaya was now carrying. Remal had walked them through some of his favorite parts of the ship opting to show them a piece of their future. He offered the last two rooms for them to finally rest their heads.

Salaya took the bait, opting to put Naprem down for a good night’s sleep. Doge, on the other hand, opted to learn more. “What kind of drinks do you have in the future?”

Remal smiled, clapped the man upon his shoulder and then touched the wall console. “Computer, show me the way to the nearest drinking lounge.” To which the computer responded with a guiding arrow and a pulsing light showing them the way to the aft lounge.

Minutes later, as Doge was boasting about the ship named Alla that he had helped build and the engines they were pushing to go faster, the doors to the lounge opened. Revealing an almost empty room, a view of the warp nacelles and a single woman sitting at the bar, her head down.

Remal recognized her right away. “Hey, why don’t you head over there and I’ll get you a drink. I’m sure the wormhole will open before you know it, and if I’m not mistaken you should be able to see your ship from here.” He abruptly ushered Doge inside and away from the bar, before turning back and saddling up next to Bonnie. “Hey.”

She attempted to lift her head off the bar, but only managed one hand. Consequently the one without a drink in it. “Hey.” She muttered.

“Been here long?” He asked as he reached behind the bar for a drink of his own, and for one he had promised Doge.

“Maybe.” She grumbled with a shrug of her shoulders. In truth she had no idea of where she was or how long she had been there.

“Rough day huh?” He asked as he poured out two bottles of Tarkellian Ale, which had a slightly blue color until it hit the glass, where it turned purple and then red. “Care to talk about it?”

She shook her head, causing the fluff of her hair to create wave-like movements back and forth. “I’d wath’r be ‘eft awone, thanks.” She slurred into the face of the bar more than anything.

Remal picked up the two glasses and stood up. He knew this was not the time to leave someone alone when they were in a drunken stupor. “Alright. If you need me, I’m going to be just over there. Chatting with one of the crew from the freighter you helped save. If you need me, that is.”

He walked away, crossed the floor and handed a drink to Doge who looked her way. “What’s the story with that one?”

Remal just shrugged and sipped his drink then turned to look out of the window at the wormhole as it opened to allow a ship to pass through. "She is one reason you are here with us now."

"Really? Do you mind if I offer my thanks?"

Shrugging, Remal offered, "I don't mind. In fact it may liven her spirits to know she did a good job."

Together they walked over and sat down on either side of the inebriated Bonnie. After a moment of silence Doge was first to speak. "So, I hear I have you to thank for my rescue."

"Twas a group 'ffort." She responded towards the floor.

"That may be so but maybe you'll accept my gratitude on their behalf? I for one am grateful not to be living my life over and over anymore."

She managed to lift her head and look in Doges direction. "You're welcome." In a normal situation she would have loved to hear what life was like having to live it over and over again stuck in a loop. But right now her emotions towards Naprem were in conflict.

"So if I may be so bold…" he sipped his drink and then continued. "What has a heroine like yourself in such a state as to drink yourself under the bar? Could it be the affections of a young gentleman perhaps?"

She half giggled at the idea, "No, a young girl, actu.. actall.. actually." She hiccupped. "She chose to go back and… and. They just took her. You believe that… they just; took her."

Doge looked at Remal, "I guess the future is more progressive than I thought." To which Remal shrugged and went back to listening. Sometimes all it takes are the right words when one needs a dam to break. "I believe you." Doge sympathized.

"So, does this girl have a name? Perhaps we can drink together to honor her memory?" Doge asked respectively.

Bonnie raised her head a little further, “Nappie.” And then allowed her head to fall into her arms on the bar once more.

Doge choked on his drink, as he gave her a questioning look. “You don’t mean my Nappie, little Naprem do you?”

“Hmhuh.” She mumbled into the bar. And then she lifted her head a bit, “Not the young Nappie, the slight-ely older, yep the older Nappie. And just when I had resolved me-self to, you know, care for her, and be a mother if she needed me, she left me.”

She sat bolt up and grabbed Doge by his jacket collar, “Why did she leave me when I needed her the most? She wasn’t there when I needed her. Why did she leave me? Why did she have to go off and die like that?” The tears were welling up in her eyes once again even as she felt Remals comforting hands upon her back.

Doge looked at Remal, “I don’t think we’re talking about Nappie anymore.”

“I think you’re right.” Remal stood and helped Bonnie do the same. “Come on Lass, let’s get you tucked into bed for the night, and maybe in the morning we can have a longer talk about what’s really bothering you.”

As they walked, stumbled away from the bar, Doge called after, “It was nice meeting you.” He then turned back to the window and the glow of the warp nacelles and marveled at the future he was now in. A future filled with high-tech engines and girls that love other girls. Most importantly it was a future where time moves in a straight and linear progression towards an inevitable end.