Disclaimer: This story and the characters I created belong to me. "Star Trek" belongs to The Powers That Be at Paramount…more's the pity.
Notes: This story was originally written August-October 2004 for an online trivia/games group I still belong to. I had taken it as a personal challenge to use the words I garnered from one of the daily games to inspire me to write each chapter.
The words that inspired this chapter? SODA PAIN TRUNK
Feedback welcome!
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The Bridge...
Captain Kirk sat in the command chair, fighting to maintain some semblance of an upright posture and a calm demeanor in spite of a raging headache and a nagging pain in his midsection.
Too much Romulan ale on an empty stomach, he supposed. He had invited Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy to his quarters last night for a brief victory toast after their latest 'spat' with the Klingons.
Kirk, flush with success, had found quite a few more things to toast after that first round. Spock had raised an eyebrow and declined to imbibe further, excusing himself to go to his quarters and meditate before retiring for the night. McCoy, for his part, might have stayed past the first round, but he had gotten called away to Sickbay by an over-eager assistant who was concerned about Ensign P'len's latest concussion-induced rantings.
So Kirk had been drinking alone - and was paying for it now, he thought ruefully. He looked at the front viewscreen and quickly regretted it, as the moving starfield shown inspired a fresh wave of nausea. He considered going down to Sickbay and begging McCoy for some bicarbonate of soda, but doubted that he was steady enough to do so without embarrassing himself. "Ah well, I can tough it out", he thought. "Reminder to self, though...next time, Jim, for god's sake, eat something first!"
Lt. Uhura interrupted his musings. "Captain, we are being hailed."
Kirk's first attempt to answer her was hampered by a tongue that felt as thick as an elephant's trunk and as dry as the Sahara Desert. He coughed a bit, swallowed, then managed to say, "On screen"...
TBC...
