Nightmarish Aftermath

Posted on 11/08/2020 @ 2:07pm by

Mission: S2E2: The Auction House
Location: Gallagher/Ruseka Quarters
Timeline: Day 41 at 1740

Kiernan was glad Oskar wasn’t around to witness his visceral reaction to the events he witnessed on the Auction House station. He had only left sickbay ten minutes earlier and ran back to his quarters when his stomach started to do flips. He just barely made it to the head when all the contents that were in his stomach decided to make a reappearance. Otis, who had now been alarmed, had followed his human into the bathroom.

When the toilet flushed, Kiernan slowly rose from his knees and washed his face and took some mouth wash to get rid of the acrid taste in his mouth. He had looked at himself in the mirror, the image reflected a man that was even paler than usual. His stomach hitched again, and he laid his hand over his abdomen as if that would still the torrent sea that was his stomach. He groaned as he made his way back to the bedroom where he managed to get off his boots and the jacket he was wearing. Both hit the deck and he scooted back and got under the covers.

Starfleet had afforded him many experiences, some bad but mostly good. However, he had never witnessed a Starfleet officer murder someone in cold blood. The Orion guard was absolutely no threat to them, especially since the man laid there stunned… out cold. To see the rage that Larissa had exhibited had caused him to flinch. He understood the anger, but as Starfleet officers they were trained to contain that anger until an appropriate time to let that go. He would run lap after lap to dispel his anger, others, he knew, would go to the gym. Some would drink, some would find a one-night stand, some simply just let it stew.

Otis had leapt onto the bed and snuggled against his human. The pug knew when his human was hurting and knew he could be a comfort in times like these. Feeling Otis against him was the comfort he needed, but he also wanted Oskar with him. But the medical officer had his hands full currently. When Kiernan was beamed back aboard, the transporter beam had deposited him in the middle of sickbay. Oskar had rushed to him immediately to make sure he was okay.

Kiernan had just nodded, his adams apple bobbing as he tried to keep the bile from rising.

Truth was, he wasn’t okay, but he wasn’t going to say that to Oskar, especially when sickbay needed him the most. Instead, Kiernan made his way to a biobed, hopped up onto it and a nurse did the scans that would clear him to go back to his quarters. Once cleared, he gave Oskar a soft smile and then exited sickbay. Then his stomach started to heave, and he ran as fast as he could.

Now he laid there, in bed, snuggled up against Otis. He knew he would be drawn into whatever would be next concerning Lieutenant Syndel. He would be a witness to the murder, he would be asked to give his account of the events that unfolded. The choice was taken away from him, and he felt the anger flare from the deepest parts of his soul. Just as fast as the anger flared, it died down, he didn’t have the energy nor strength to deal with that emotion.

His thoughts drifted to Larissa and he felt devastated for her. Anger got the best of her and she had done something foolish in response. He wondered what she was feeling… was she feeling regret, remorse, or was the anger just as strong as it was an hour earlier. He didn’t know the Orion lieutenant all that well, in fact he didn’t know her at all. But she was still a Starfleet officer, a colleague, and it saddened him to know that one misguided impulse would no doubt end a promising career.

It was a loss.

In fact, Larissa was now not only going to be grieving Henri Boudreaux’s loss, but the loss of possibly her career and her freedom. That had to be a triple whammy, and a big punch to the gut. He reached for Otis and gave the pug scratches behind the ear. At the response, the pug closed his eyes and was soon snoring away. “Not a care in the world,” Kiernan mused softly.

He would need to report to duty in a couple of hours, so until then he would just rest. He closed his eyes and soon fell into a deep sleep that would be plagued with nightmares of what he had seen on the Auction House.

**

A post by:

Lieutenant Kiernan M. Gallagher VII, PhD
Chief Science Officer
USS Crazy Horse

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Otis the Pug