{And It All Comes Crashing Down} [Open]

[habitualenabler]

I don’t care what went wrong, I want those couplings-

[The man stopped mid-tirade as he realized he was no longer lecturing an ensign but nobody, jabbing his finger at empty air in an unfamiliar hallway.]

-rewired…in an hour?

[He glanced around at the new surroundings, scratching at his head in confusion. He had never been here before- he was

Comments

[only_a_gul]

Not another human.

[He has a bottle of replicated Canar and a glass in his hand.]

[habitualenabler]

Yeah. Another human. Now send me back with the rest of them so I can get back to my job.

[only_a_gul]

Ah, if only I could wave my hand like so and make it happen.

[He gestures, still with glass in hand.]

But if I could do that, I'd send myself back first and the rest of you be damned. AS it is, I'm stuck here, just like you. On Shtel Nor.

[He snorts with amusement at the name again.]

Perhaps you should do as I am, and try to drink your sorrows away. It does wonders for the disposition. Although this Canar tastes terrible. Nothing like the real thing.

[habitualenabler]

Right. I'll keep that in mind when I become a total defeatist.

[only_a_gul]

I'll be waiting for the day, with an extra bottle just for you.

I give you about a week. Two, tops.

[habitualenabler]

Yeah sure. I wouldn't count on it.

[only_a_gul]

Are you a betting man? Not that it matters, I was simply curious.

I'm afraid the Excelsior -- which I assume is your ship -- shall have to do without you indefinitely. Or at least for the near future. I'm told that a whole team of Starfleet personnel are working on the problem, but...

Between you and me, I fear that even the vaulted Federation is stumped over this one.

[habitualenabler]

Not so much. But each day is a gift, not a god-given right. That you wake up is enough reason to keep going.

Faaaaantastic.

[only_a_gul]

I see. And you see getting pleasantly drunk a defeatist action and not a celebration of being alive for one more day?

[habitualenabler]

Not the way you said it the first time, no. I've never really been one to hide from my problems behind alcohol.

[only_a_gul]

Who said anything about hiding. Wallowing, I'll give you.

[He shrugged and poured himself a glass. He didn't care if he was standing in the middle of a hallway.]

Besides, I'm practising.

[habitualenabler]

...right. I'm afraid to ask, but practicing for what?

[only_a_gul]

For a drinking contest. Between myself and one of the other Starfleet captains.

[habitualenabler]

Right. Is there really nothing better to do here?

[only_a_gul]

I'm sure there is. Each to his own. No doubt others are using the holodecks or reading in the library, or recovering in sick bay, or going about their daily tasks they've set themselves to pretend they're not trapped on a station in the middle of the Romulan Neutral Zone.

I am practising because I could never resist a challenge, and I hate to lose.

[habitualenabler]

Right. I feel sorry for your liver. I can practically feel it dying from over here.