[sb118-artemis] Ensign Tho'bi - Cat Got My Antennae

[Tobi]

————————————————————-

((XO & Sam’s quarters, deck 2, USS Artemis))

The young Andorian Ensign had been called out to adjust the environmental controls for a new arrival to the ship.  The fact she was the XO’s girlfriend was the first complication.  The fact she also had a cat was about to turn out to be the second complication….

Richards: It’s too cold in here. I need it to be less cold. Can you help with that?

The young ensign nodded and crouched down.  He snapped open the engineering kit and extracted the engineering tricorder from it’s protective housing.  Still crouched, he aimed the tricorder at the control panel beside the door.  The familiar LCARS user-friendly interface blipped into darkness, and was replaced by a text-based diagnostic interface.

Now the sync-locked to the room’s internal control systems, the tricoder became the ensign’s focus.  He dialed up the environmental settings for the quarters.

Tho’Bi:  Oh.  ::scratches the back of his neck:: OK.  ::looks up at Richards:: Erm, OK. (beat)  ::looks back down at tricorder:: Eh… ::looks back at Richards:: OK. (beat) 

The Environmental settings had been set to a custom preset, design by the XO.  This presented the young ensign with a dilemma: If he changed the settings, he risked the wrath of Dakora, but if he did not change the settings, he risked looking like an unskilled engineer.  The ensign wrestled with this for a moment.  Engineering won out.

Tho’Bi:  ::looks at Richards:: Yep, the te-temperature is set a li-little low for erm humans. (beat) I can sort that out.        

Richards: Thank you. I am just going to ::pointing to the couch:: be sitting over here if you need anything.

The XO appeared to have two presets. ‘DAK-REC’ and ‘DAK-END’.  The Ensign clicked open on the preset currently active: ‘Dak-End’.

//TRICORDER DISPLAY//

Status: Sync-Locked

Sync-Lock: Artemis-A|D2-Q1201|ENV-CTRL

Path String: ENV-CTRL>CSTM>DAK-END

Comments: Endurance Training Preset

Parameters Value Relative

Temperature 16 C (-10c)

Humidity 30% (-15%)

Air Pressure 85KP (-21)

Atmospheric Comp 

Nitrogen 82% (+4%)

Oxygen 17% (-4)

Trace Gases 1% (0)

Gravity 1.1 (+0.1)

Lighting Circadian

Impact Status: Minimal

System Status: Nominal

Fall-back Protocol: Activated

Protocol Status: CONFIRMED

Engineer: THOBi|ENSIGN|EG - 793 - 322|

// End Tricoder Display //

In a rare moment of common sense, based on his first few days aboard, the young engineer opted for creating a new preset.  At least this way, the XO could always switch things back if and when he wanted to.

Sam grabbed her freshly replicated bowl of Cheezy Poofs and wrapped herself back up on the couch with a blanket.

Tho’Bi: I-I’m erm (beat) I’m going to create pre-preset for you.

As he explains, the woman’s attention comes to rest on his bodged ‘cake mix’ PADD.  A look of concern spreads across her face.

Richards: Oh, and uh, Tho’Bi. ::Gesturing around:: Please… Don’t break anything. I don’t think either of us want to explain to Commander Dakora why something in his quarters is broken. 

Tho’Bi:  Oh, no. ::shakes head:: I I I don’t wanna ha-have to explain Commander Dakora.

The Engine brought the tricorder out of the XO’s Custom Pre-Set and found the Starfleet/Starfleet Medical recommended settings for pregnant human females.  He uploaded the settings and saved the new preset.

//TRICORDER DISPLAY//

Status: Sync-Locked

Sync-Lock: Artemis-A|D2-Q1201|ENV-CTRL

Path String: ENV-CTRL>CSTM>RICH-PREG

Comments: Human Female Pregnancy Preset

!WARNING DO NOT ADJUST GRAVITY!

!WITH PREGNANT FEMALE PRESENT!

Parameters Value Relative

Temperature 26C (0)

Humidity 50% (+5%)

Air Pressure 101KP (0)

Atmospheric Comp 

Nitrogen 77% (-1%)

Oxygen 22% (+1)

Trace Gases 1% (0)

Gravity 0.9 (-0.1)

Lighting Circadian

Impact Status: Minimal

System Status: Nominal

Fall-back Protocol: Activated

Protocol Status: CONFIRM?  Yes/No

Engineer: THOBi|ENSIGN|EG - 793 - 322|

// End Tricoder Display //

The preset was loaded up.  The Ensign just need to press confirm but he needed to ask Richards to leave the quarter for a moment while he did it.  The tricoder explicitly warned against gravity adjustments with pregnant women present.  As he started explaining, it suddenly occurred to the Andorian, that he never met a pregnant human before.

Tho’BI:  Okay.  Erm.  I’ve cr-created a Pre-Preset for you (beat) Erm.. So it’s set for erm.. (beat) You are (beat) You are p-pr-pregnant, right?  Erm… there’s little babies inside you?

Richards:  Response

Tho’Bi:  Sorry.  (beat)  I’ve errm never met a pregnant human before.  (beat) Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.

Richards: Response?

The Ensign felt it best to try to move things along as best he could, but first he needed Richards to step outside into the corridor.

Tho’Bi:  Okay, so Starfleet Me-Medical recommend gravity, sl-slightly less than Earth standard.  (beat)  At the mo-moment, it’s s-set to sightly more.  (beat)  I can’t perform the ad-adjustment with you in the room, so ermm… I need you to st-stand in the corridor f-for a moment.  ::smiles haplessly::

Richards: Response

With just the two of them left in the room, the young Ensign turned to the cat.

Tho’Bi:  Ready? (beat)  Okay.

The Ensign tapped confirm.  There was a deep, loud, metallic shunt sound.  The cat looked up.  A long protracted buzzing sound as the Ensign felt his feet get lighter.  The cat’s fur stood on end, across it’s whole body.  As its body lifted up and it scrambled with its paws to stay grounded.  The buzzing stopped.  A second deep, loud metallic shunt sound shuddered through the room.  Just as the Ensign’s feet were returning to being planted firmly on the ground, the cat stood bold upright, legs stretched out, back arched, hair up.

Tho’Bi:  ::to the cat::  Are you okay?

Evidently, the cat was not okay.  He bolted across and then around the room, scaling shelves, sideboards, and desks at speed.  Commander Dakora’s belongings were sent tumbling to the deck. 

Richards (outside in the corridor): Response

The cat had leapt onto the highest bookshelf, sending its contains cannoning to the deck.  It’s back arched, the cat’s eyes focused on the young Ensign.  It let out a long, rasping hiss.

Tho’Bi:  Oh uh.

The cat launched itself at the Ensign’s face.  His Andorian reactions allowed him to duck his head underneath the incoming photon-torpedo-cat, but the cat’s front paws locked onto his antennae.  The cat’s full momentum came to a sudden halt against the Andorian’s antennae, as the cat swung round, twisting the antennae in a crisscross, and landed on the Ensign’s head.  It pushed in with its hind paws and pulled back on the antennae with all its strength; digging the claws of its front paws into the antennae.

Tho’Bi: GYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!

Richards: (outside in the corridor): Response

TAGS/TBC

————————————

Ensign Tho’Bi

Engineering

USS Artemis-A

A240203T11