Curiosity Didn't Kill the Cat

Posted on Tue 11th Apr, 2017 @ 4:00am by

833 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night
Location: Cargo Bay 23
Timeline: MD 2, 1335

"Whatever you do, when you're working with Particle Transition Conduits, you want the highest resistance gel packs. Don't ever, ever use replicated materials or re-use older packs," Jin-Kyung said, very seriously, to the new specialist she was training. "Quality is the hallmark of our - "

=^=Jin-Kyung Quinn to Cargo Bay 23.=^= The announcement came over Jin’s combadge.

"Ah, must be my special order," Quinn said, with satisfaction. To the engineering specialist, she said, "Practice making the connections, but don’t close it up until I’ve double-checked it.

Jin wiped her hands, out of habit more than need, and hurried toward the Cargo Bay. Today, she took no time to be amazed at her surroundings. Stepping off the lift on Deck 96, Quinn hurried to Cargo Bay 23. There were fifteen bays on the deck, but she was familiar with all of them, and went straight to the one holding her package. She entered and stopped at the small desk of the cargo security assistant.

The petty officer third class looked up and, when he saw who it was, said, "This one is sort of odd, even for you." He handed Jin-Kyung a PADD to sign. "Need your thumbprint on the bottom of the manifest; you know the drill."

When the systems engineer had pressed her thumb into the PADD and it clicked acceptance, the CPO3 stood and led the way to a shelf. Pulling off a cube about half a meter on a side, he held it toward Jin-Kyung and said, "There you go, but ...." he hesitated.

Quinn took a deep breath and let it out. "You want to know why it gives off such a high energy reading?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, it passed the security inspection, but still ... it's just repair components, right? Sometimes we get some strange things in here for you, but the small packages usually state they are personal." He scratched his head, puzzled. "This one came in on Bozeman, classified special delivery, and the manifest doesn't say exactly what's in the box. I'm, you know, a little curious?"

Jin-Kyung laughed. "I can imagine you are. Want me to open it up here on your desk?"

The petty officer wanted nothing more than that, but he didn't really have a right to demand such a thing. Security had passed the package, after all. Still ... it was unusual, and he was curious. "If it wouldn't inconvenience you too much, I would like that."

"Not a problem at all," Quinn said, still chuckling as she put the box on the desk and pulled out her grandfather’s pocketknife. She slit the seals on the package quickly, knowing the man would be surprised, probably disappointed as well. "It's from home, but I don't know if anyone else would want it."

Inside the outer layer of wrapping was a blue-tinted box of some synthetic material. There was a latch on the side, and Jin-Kyung flipped it open, pushing the top backward. The cargo security assistant peered around the side to look at what the box contained.

"Well, I'll be. Is that what I think it is?" he asked.

"I don't know what you think it is," Jin-Kyung said, lifting out the small, black, and fuzzy ball inside the box. After a moment, an elfin head emerged from the ball, two green eyes glowing. A tiny pink tongue flicked out, part of a yawn. "If you think it's a cat, you're right. It's a young one, a kitten. Would you like to pet it?"

"Will it bite?" the man asked cautiously.

"I shouldn't think so. Not even if it were hungry." She grinned and rubbed a hand between the kitten’s ears and around under its chin. It merely blinked its eyes and began to knead its front paws into Jin-Kyung's wrist, making a subdued buzzing sound.

The CPO3 put out a tentative hand and stroked the top of the kitten's head with two fingers. "It's so soft!" he exclaimed.

"You've not seen one before?"

"Only in holovids," the security guard said, still running his fingers down the back of the tiny body. "How'd you get one?"

"Oh, they run rampant on my world. My family brought a few with us, back in 2092 when we immigrated to Kilkenny. Well, my ancestors did. I’m a little young to have been there.” She smiled again at the guard. “They multiply well, given the right circumstances. We actually control their population." She put the kitten back in the crate and closed it.

"And now you know why the energy reading was high. It's a self-contained environment designed to get the cat here safely. One of my cousins is on Bozeman and his captain agreed to stop at Vanguard, since it wasn't really out of their way on patrol. Starfleet apparently turns a blind eye to these things," Quinn said, "as long as it doesn't interfere with a mission. Stop by my office to see her any time, but I warn you, she's going to grow fast."

 

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