Posted by Lieutenant Tija Aizala (Chief Medical Officer) in Side Sim: Mean cat, mean ship

Posted by Lieutenant Garth (Chief Science Officer) in Side Sim: Mean cat, mean ship

Posted by Cadet Anders Taurean (Scientist) in Side Sim: Mean cat, mean ship
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

One thing Anders had going for him was his mixture of precision and speed. Between the turbolift and sick bay, the cadet tucked his chin against his chest and formulated a gameplan going forward. The two Lieutenants split themselves off from his search for a preliminary check-up. At first, the Tellarite’s intense reaction upon entering the room sought to prove that some sort of feline had been in the room.

The Ensign, Priel, seemed at the very least to be non-judgemental, which set the cadet a bit more at ease. Not that he was actually at ease, but the nerves could have been far worse than they were.

“If you could just, eh, hold for a moment, Ensign, uhm, Preel?” Anders requested, uncertain that he correctly pronounced the ensign’s name. Normally he was good with that sort of thing, but was more than a little distracted at the moment. Holding Lt. Tija’s modified tricorder, he swept about the room doing a quick three-sixty spin, the shuffling of his feet and the pinging of the tricorder combining for an anxious melody.

“Of course,” NE Priel replied with a slightly lopsided smile. Of course a cat possibly contaminating sickbay was no laughing matter, but in a way there was something humorous about the whole situation nevertheless.

One signal coming from Impulse Engines, and a lot more coming from Shuttle Bay. Furrowing his brow, Anders let out a groan.

In the blink of an eye, Priel’s expression switched from amusement to concern and she asked, “Is everything okay, Cadet?”

“Ehm, one more moment, please, Ensign.”

Having held onto the mysterious cat hair Lt. Garth had produced from the science lab, Anders scanned it with the tricorder and added the readings to his original search parameters. The pinging continued as he moved about in another full circle spin, changing speeds and the height with which he held the tricorder this time, adding “hmm“‘s and “huh“‘s the whole time. When he finished, Anders turned to show Ensign Priel what he’d been looking at.

“From what I can tell, the cat hasn’t actually entered Sick Bay, eh, yet. It seems to have wandered through most every room besides Sick Bay, but if the reading is right, it should be somewhere in or around the impulse engines,” cringing at the potential danger he could be wreaking upon the ship, Anders trudged on anyway, “However, if we return to my original biometric adjustments that led us here, you can see two organic lifeforms pass through Sick Bay, at which point they become four in the CMO’s office, at which point they head to Shuttle Bay and become six.”

Priel was about to say that the CMO would be happy to hear that, though the CE surely would not be. But before she had even opened her mouth, Cadet Taurean had continued talking, leaving her rather speechless for a moment. Eventually she said, “I’ve seen a lot over the years, but that is certainly new. I’m afraid none of the Senior Officers will be pleased to hear that; least of all Doctor Tija and Lieutenant Vras. Then again there is the possibility that this tricorder is malfunctioning and those multiplying lifeform readings are a result of that malfunction.” While talking she made a mental note to check all medical files later to see who on this ship was allergic to cats and inform them that there might be cat hair in unexpected places.

Without much more analysis to add on top that, Anders instead added a confused shrug, looking at the Ensign with a mixture of a sheepish smile and a grimace.

“Ensign, would it be possible to grab another tricorder?” He asked with a face full of innocence, “We should still sweep Sick Bay for potential feline allergens in case I’m wrong and, eh, in case I’m right, try and narrow down what these other organic readings that are popping up could potentially be.”

He knew the Lieutenants had to be informed as soon as possible, but Lt. Tija seemed to still be working on Lt. Garth, and if Anders had a second of time to gather more information to bring to them, he would take it.

(Cadet Anders Taurean, Science Division)

“Of course,” Priel replied and without another word turned around to get another tricorder.

Returning to Taurean’s side, Priel handed him the device and asked, “Can you show me how exactly you calibrated the other tricorder? Not that I don’t trust your work, yet maybe something in the calibration caused a glitch in the tricorder. And two pairs of eyes see more than one.”

~NE Priel, medical technician

Garth shook his head in response to Tija’s questioning. “You tell me, doctor. Those are certainly the most annoying symptoms.” He raised his voice slightly to make sure that Taurean could hear his displeasure. Tija would find no noted allergies to medications in Garth file.

Tija merely nodded, flipped her tricorder open and took the little node into her hand. With her eyes fixed on the small screen she then moved the node slowly and methodically down Garth body.

No one would be surprised that Garth was keeping a keen ear tuned in to the conversation between his cadet and the medical ensign. “Did you say that your cat is multiplying?” Garth almost stood up from the biobed in exasperation.

(Lt. Garth, CSO)

“Yes, good thinking Ensign, always double check and triple check,” he said, waiting for her to return with her nominal tricorder before beginning his demonstration, “So my initial configuration accounted for organic biometry at an approximate height and width of a feline.”

Returning his tricorder to how he’d originally configured it, he continued: “So the tricorder was picking up and filtering out organic lifeforms any bigger than that of a cat-“

NE Priel nodded here and there while watching closely.

As he was speaking, Lt. Garth’s anxious calling cut across the room. Anders replied, saying, “Well, not the cat, Lt. Possibly something else, ehhhhhh, the Ensign and I need a little time to see if it’s a calculation error or not.”

Turning back to Priel, he continued: “Lt. Garth uncovered a cat hair in the science lab one deck above, which I used to further pair down my biometric readings to exact figure. I’m scientifically certain this one dot here is my cat. I cannot account for these six- eight other lifeforms, which appear organic yet incorporeal according to my readings.”

Again, the potential lifeforms had expanded, now from two to four to six to eight total. For the time being, they remained in the Shuttle Bay area.

Looking to Ensign Priel, Anders asked, “Was there is mistake in my reconfiguration? I think I’d prefer it at this point.”

(Cadet Anders Taurean, Science Division)

“It looks alright to me,” NE Priel replied, her brow furrowed. “Then again I’m a medical technician, not an engineer, so there is only so much I know about the deeper workings of a tricorder.” After studying the readings a moment or so longer, she continued, “If you are certain that that single lifesign is your cat, I’d suggest that you go get it and -” Holding up her left hand, index finger extended, she walked quickly towards one of the storage units.

A short while later she returned with an empty crate large enough to hold a cat. “This isn’t ideal, but there will be enough air in there for you to get your cat back to your quarters and it minimizes the risk of it escaping again.” She gently pushed the box into his arms and leaning forward so that her mouth was relatively close to his ear, she whispered, “And I’ll see what I can do to make sure you don’t get into too much trouble over this. Both our superiors are reasonable people, they just have strict rules about what is and isn’t generally allowed in certain spaces.” Taking a step back, she continued, “Keep us updated and once the cat is where it belongs, come back here. In the mean time I’ll see what we, what I can do about finding out what those other readings are.”

~Lt. Tija, CMO & NE Priel, medical technician

Taking the crate and tucking it under his right arm, the cadet recoiled slightly as the ensign leaned into whisper an assurance to him. His face flashed confusion at first, but then relaxed into an innocent smile.

“Well uh, I appreciate it,” he shrugged, causing the makeshift cat crate to rattle, “but I can speak for my own actions. The punishment they choose is their right. Don’t worry, I’ve been through this song-and-dance before.”

“I know you can, but it’s good to have each other’s backs, isn’t it?” she replied with smile.

Looking over to the table where Lt. Tija had a grumpy, allergen-riddled Tellarite sat in waiting, Anders scratched the side of his head with his free hand and looked down.

“Besides, Lt. Garth decided on his retribution the moment he found out it was my cat, I think.” Taurean let out a short, weak laugh, “Anyway. Yeah. I’ll be back as quick as I can.”

With a quick turn, Anders rushed from the room without a summary goodbye to either lieutenant, though he didn’t feel that was necessarily unwelcome. His haste was the more necessary thing at the moment. He trusted Ensign Priel could handle briefing them on where he was headed the other little situation that might be arising. What Anders doubted, however, is if he’d be allowed to see latter out once he returned the cat to its rightful place. Cadets weren’t allowed a long leash in any sense, and he seemed to have chewed through his quite quickly. Putting that aside, cadet Taurean made his way toward the Impulse Engines room, hoping it was still manned by a skeleton crew mostly made up of cadets and ensigns at the moment.

(Cadet Anders Taurean, Science Division)

Garth watched Cadet Taurean leave Sickbay out of the corners of his narrowed eyes. “A cat,” he grumbled as he turned looked back to Lieutenant Tija as she conducted her tests. “He’s lucky it didn’t knock over anything in the lad.”

“Indeed,” replied Tija simply. “And that the cat apparently didn’t get in here.”

The tellarite extended a hand to beckon Ensign Priel back to the biobed. “What was he going on about Ensign? Multiple lifeforms? Do we have an infestation on the ship?”

(Lt. Garth, CSO)

NE Priel put on her most charming smile and said, “I don’t think so. The other readings appear incorporeal. It might just be a glitch in the tricorder or something completely unrelated to his cat.” After a short pause, she added, “He is feeling really guilty about all this. So don’t be too hard on him when he comes back.” She was a aware that she was probably overstepping things, but she didn’t care right now.

With one eyebrow raised, Tija simply looked at the other woman before return her focus back to the tricorder in her hand. At first she’d found the situation humorous, but it seemed to be getting really out of hand. Who would have guessed that a cat could cause so many problems?

OOC: I hope I didn’t miss anything. Brain isn’t working as well as I’d like it to.

~Lt. Tija, CMO & NE Priel, medical technician

Garth narrowed his beady eyes into slits, obviously displeased with the unasked-for advice. He breathed in heavily through his running nose, creating a wet snort. “My response has not been unreasonable, Ensign. Pets are not allowed in communal areas for this exact reason,” he said pointing to his watering eyes. “Much less in the science lab, where any contaminants can throw off months worth of experimentation.” He looked at Lieutenant Tija. “If one of your cadets had done the same, surely there would be consequences.”

(Lt. Garth, CSO)