Dry Him Out

Posted on Wed Apr 22nd, 2015 @ 5:02pm by Captain Aidan Rackham & Commander Ashley Kennedy

Mission: The Night Cries
Location: Booking Area, Pike City Police Department
Timeline: 2278.46: 2200hrs.

"This is car seven-oh-four to base." The officer said into the communicator device which was strapped onto the sash which formed part of his uniform. "I have a male here over the driving limit. Bringing him in- request his car be towed to impound, over."

Five minutes had passed since he stopped the car containing the odd looking alien. He seemed polite but his driving had been erratic and a quick test had proved that he was well over the limit. It was a typical crime for Pike City, especially on the outskirts as people tried to get home from its many bars.

"Okay, friend." The Officer said cheerfully. "I'm afraid it's going to be a night in the cells for you. We'll dry you out and get you on your way."

Guided by the policeman, he made his way to the shuttle. No, plane. What was the word they used? Cart! That sounded right. "I thhhank you, my ... my friend," he said, waving one of his seven fingers in the general area of the constable. "I'm afraid I might have been serially injuried if you had not assis ... asstid ... helped me."

[Booking Area, Pike City Police Department]

Sergeant Ryan Scullin looked up from the novel he was reading when the front door opened up and his eyes opened wide. "Well, hell, Danny, what have you caught there?"

"That's as good a question as any." The officer, Constable Danny Bowman, replied. "He's pretty washed out. Isn't even able to tell me his name, let alone where he's from. Checked his car and his clothes, he's not carrying any ID."

Standing at about average height and swaying this way and that, the fella wasn't of any species Scullin had seen before. His skin was a very pale yellow that came close to translucency. The eyes were dark, a shocking contrast with the rest of his body, and were set deep in a slightly over-sized skull topped with short, dark grey hair. His mouth, which was currently slack-jawed and drooling, was wider than a human's such that it gave the impression that his head might swing completely open from the mouth. That was set below what Scullin supposed was a nose, but was more a thin membrane that seemed to rise and fall with every breath.

Scullin shook his head in wonder. He'd moved out to the frontier expecting to see all types of exotic species, but up to this point hadn't seen anything more unusual than a Gorn with an infected tooth. Now this fella rocks up in the middle of the night, drunk and humming some unknown tune. The sergeant shoved his thumb up over his shoulder, "Take him back, Danny. I'll register him as 'Karl' for now, but we'll try and get some ID out of him when he's sobered up some."

The alien seemed to like that and he started whispering the name over and over in a lyrical tone. "Karl," he said, looking straight at Scullin in a way that sent chills through the old sergeant's spine. "Kaaaarl."

---

Ryan Scullin
Desk Sergeant

Danny Bowman
Police Officer

'Karl'
Drunk