An unusual guest

Posted on Sun Oct 13th, 2024 @ 4:13pm by Ensign Amanda Turell & Ensign Eden Drake

1,716 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: A marathon not a sprint
Location: USS Marathon- Various
Timeline: Md03 2000hrs

On the bridge of the Marathon Petty officer Smith manned what passed for a tactical station on the prototype very minimally armed vessel so far the shift had been entirely uneventful but over the last few minutes something had been bothering her. "Captain, internal sensors are picking up a strange reading on deck 3, moving between sections 4 and 5." She reported.

Munro frowned as he looked at her, with confusion and then just...quiet acceptance. "Of course. Of course you have..." he said and sighed. An easy run, they had said. Just delivering a ship, they said. Nothing to worry about, it's just a ferry run, Munro, stop getting paranoid they said...liars. All of them. Liars and idiots, every Admiral ever. "Smith, best to get that investigated. If it is moving, it is less likely to be something wrong with the readings and more something on the move." His years as a Security Officer came through his voice.

"Aye Sir." Smith said before hitting the comm button on the console. =/\= Bridge to Ensign Drake =/\=

=^= Drake here, =^= there was no hesitation from the man who held the current shift down in the security office. Whatever he might be up to on the long, eventless shift, he was clearly still alert.

=/\= Sir we're picking up an unusual reading on deck 3, between sections 4 and 5, can you investigate?=/\=

=^=On my way,=^= Eden assured as he pushed himself away from the desk, checking his phaser at his side on sheer instinct. He hit his commbadge as he glanced to the time. =^= Drake to Turell, are you still up? We've got an unusual reading to check on deck 3, wondered if you fancied being my partner?=^=

In her quarters on deck 3 Amanda was laying on the sofa reading from a Padd when Drake's voice came over the comm system, she head back behind her head to the small table where her uniform top and its attached combadge sat. =/\= Sure, whereabouts on deck 3?=/\=

=/\= It's moving between sections 4 and 5. Meet at 4 and do a sweep through to 5? =/\= he suggested, already on the move. Usually, hunting down a vague and random sensor reading would be irritating, but when they had so little to occupy them, it was a welcome distraction.

"I'll be there in 2." Amanda almost leapt up from the sofa quickly grabbing her uniform jacket and re-holstering her phaser.

By the time she arrived in the section, Eden was already there. He didn't look impressed though. Studying a tricorder, he was moving in a slow circle on sheer instinct, as if that would improve the readings coming in. He glanced up as he heard her approach, shaking his head with a shrug. "I'm not reading anything here, let's push forward and sweep the section.

=/\= Smith to security team, it's on the move, section 5 into 6. Sensors still can't identify just what it is.=/\=

Eden looked across to Amanda with a furrowed brow, the expression somewhere between confusion and 'what the hell'. He confirmed they were on the move before setting off to the next section with Amanda. "Think we should ask them to run a diagnostic? Or will we just get shouted at?"

"The Marathon is still being built, everything might not be working quite right." Amanda told him as they moved down the sections of the deck entering another cluster of crew quarters. "Can you tell if it's in one of the crew quarters or in the jefferies tubes?"

"Keep going two quarters down on your right, it's stationary there somewhere." Smiths voice replied.

"On it." Amanda drew her phaser and quickly covered the distance to the room in question readying herself on one side of the doorway.

Eden followed suit, nodding to her to be ready as he moved in, phaser held steady and ready to fire.....at nothing. He turned in a slow circle just to be sure, looking at every nook, cranny and shadow. When he was sure there was nothing in sight he pulled his tricorder to double check. Even more nothing. He sighed with exasperation, hitting his commbadge. "Drake to Smith, are you sure about this? There's nothing here..."

On the bridge Smith checked the internal sensors again. "I'm sure, it's there somewhere."

"One last place to check." Amanda said and opened the door to the rooms bathroom phaser ready just in case. "I found it....." she added after a few moments.

Drake lifted his phaser, his body tense, his muscles coiled tightly ready for a fight. He shifted to offer her better cover, acting on years of experience, his mind fully focussed on the possible threat that was about to expose itself...and not the fact that Amanda seemed pretty calm all things considered.

There sat on the lid of the toilet sat the culprit. Nearly a foot long, almost half of it tail. Six legged with short scraggily fur over its body, a long snout but short pointy ears with a spoon shaped impression between them.

"Our mystery guest.... is a male Cardassian vole." Amanda said with a exasperated sigh.

"The f..." Drake just about managed to catch himself, watching the scraggy little thing with wide, indignant eyes. They'd been sent on a wild goose chase for *that*. That horrible little thing. "Do...I shoot it...?" he murmured to Amanda, his eyes slightly narrowed as he tried to keep the 'ick' look from his features.

The vole sniffed the air and looked at the two people in front of it for several seconds before it made a dash for the door scuttling between Amanda's legs, she quickly turned and her phaser flashed striking barely an inch behind it. "Don't let it get out."

It had taken all of Drake's resolve not to jump to get his feet away from the thing as it scuttled past. He hated rodents. All of them. Filthy little creepy things. He was about to fire when it disappeared behind a cabinet. "Well that's just great..." he muttered, going to one end to give it a shove, trying to scare it out.

Sitting on the bridge, Munro bit his lip to keep the laugh back over an open line. "Do...you need a hand with pest control down there?" he asked over the line.

"We have everything perfectly under control!" Drake ground out through gritted teeth as he jiggled and shoved at the cabinet, not willing to admit defeat over this little scabby thing that was too small to even bother putting in a pie.

Munro bit his lip harder, closing his eyes before taking a slow and deep breath. "Perhaps...you can entice it out with food?" he suggested, trying to be helpful and failing miserably.

Setting her phaser to a wide beam stun Amanda lay down and looked into the small gap between the cabinet and the floor, "I see it." She said, the shot angle was awkward but the wide beam would help. The vole scurried back and forth under the cabinet unsure where to go with Amanda in front of it and Drake beside it, a brief flash of orange and its reign of terror ended.

Grabbing it by its tail Amanda pulled its stunned body out. "Got you, ugly little things aren't they." She said as she held it at arms length.

Drake leant in a little closer with the safety of the unconscious state of the thing, grimacing as he saw its jagged little teeth. "I suppose we should take it to Sickbay to be secured," he muttered, even though the airlock was tempting.

"Captain? What do you want us to do with it?" Amanda asked, personally she was thinking the same as Drake, shoot it or space it.

Munro let out a soft breath, wanting to just say phaser it and have it over and done with. "Contain it," he said, after some consideration. "Make sure it is secure, fed, watered and stays quiet. We can give it as a present to some scientist when we arrive at our destination."

Drake made a slight 'ergh' face at Amanda, shaking his head slowly as his ego started to recover from the merry chase they'd just been led on. "Understood, Captain," he nodded to her, and made absolutely no move to take it from her, more than happy to let her keep carrying it.

"Come on Eden, you're not afraid of a little thing like this are you?" Amanda asked.

Drake took a deliberate step away from her, half convinced she was going to hold it out closer to him with the words. "Afraid? No....of course not! Just...it's really, really disgusting..."

Drake's step back was taken at just the right moment. "Oh my god it's waking up," Amanda said and started swinging the vole towards him shaking it violently.

"Ergh! Stun it! Stun it again!" the panic that flashed through Drake's eyes was undeniable as he made an agile hop away to put even more distance between them, shuddering visibly.

Amanda held on for only a couple of seconds before she burst out laughing. "The look on your face Eden." She barely managed to say through her laughter.

Drake's eyes widened as he resisted the urge to shove her shoulder. Instead, a long string of expletives came from his mouth, covering a variety of languages and didn't stop until he needed to draw air.

Taking a slight step back Amanda was actually quite surprised by the mans outburst. "I'm sorry I couldn't resist it." She said after his tirade ended.

Drake caught his breath, touching his chest as his heart finally fell back into a normal rhythm for a human. "Bloody hell, Amanda Turell, just you wait, I'll get you back good for that..." there was finally jest back in his voice and a disbelieving smile on his features, although a distinctly sheepish one at how easily he'd reacted to the prank.

"Oh I'll be ready and waiting for your riposte." Amanda chuckled, she knew he'd certainly plan something to get his own back. "Come on lets see where we can put this, think Lt Poe needs a new lab rat?"


tags or end?






OFF:

Ensign Eden Drake
Security Officer
USS Wolff
[PNPC Rowe]

Commander Dario Munro
CO
USS Marathon
[pnpc Slattery]

Ensign Amanda Turell
Security Officer
USS Wolff
[pnpc Taliserra]

Po3 Kayra Smith
Security Redshirt

 

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