EPISODE CLXIV - STRUGGLES OF A PREPUBESCENT MORTICIAN
Jeffy took a long draw on his drink and gasped. "Holy crap", he wheezed, trying to gain his breath, "what is this stuff?!?"
"Beer", Marx replied with a nervous glance at Broski.
"Wow", the engineering officer observed, "it really packs a wallop, doesn't it?"
"Ah...yeah", the bartender agreed, slowly edging away, "it sure does. You might want to take it easy on that stuff."
"You're not just whistling Dixie, pal", Jeffy countered. He turned around in his
swiveling chair and leaned against the bar, taking another pull on his drink. "Ah", he said wiping foam
from his lips, "nothing like a good...what did you say it was again?"
"Beer", Marx stated evenly, "just plain old beer."
"Nothing like a good beer, eh", Jeffy continued. "What say we make a toast", he suggested, scooting his chair closer to Broski's.
"Sure", the corporal said, more concerned with getting snookered than with Jeffy's evident lack of drinking experience. "What should we make it to?"
Jeffy pondered the question for several seconds, the lines on his forehead creasing with thought. "How about freedom", he replied. "Freedom to come and go as you please. Freedom to make
your own decisions. Freedom to play the board games you want to play, even when somebody else wants to play Clue or Electronic Battleship. Freedom to decide when Snuggly Time's over and it's time for
the big...", he paused, noting the strange expressions on the face of Broski and Marx. "What?!?"
"Nothing", Broski managed, shaking himself out of the brain fog the engineering officer had created. He raised his glass. "To freedom!"
"To freedom", the others repeated.
They each put their glasses to a previously selected orifice, and prepared to drink, but were interrupted, and mildly surprised, when the vent in the ceiling burst open, and DANA, the android from security, dropped
through.
