Ensign S'Rorr: Stealthy Stowaway

[S'Rorr]

((Environmental Control Access Ducts, Deck 7))

S'Rorr's tail twitched with agitation. His hair was a mess, his eyes reddened from overwork and undersleep. He had dropped his uniform top an hour ago and was just rocking a sleeveless undershirt in the stifling heat as he crawled through the narrow access tube on all fours, eyes focused. It was hot in there. Hot by Caitian standards no less. He knew he was near power couplings for some environmental control systems, but the ins and outs of engineering like this were mostly beyond him.

The scent he was tracking was faint. A peppery, musky odor. As he crawled past some thick cables, he knew he was on the right track. Exposed wiring, bite marks, and that scent.

oO There! Oo

A flicker in his peripheral vision, and then it was gone again. His usual vertically slit pupils were dilated into large circles as he strained to see the little creature that had eluded him for days. He'd given up trying to track it with the tricorder hanging uselessly at his belt. Something in the little three eyed lizard's scales bent every kind of scanner tech he'd thought to try around it. Romulan cloaking system engineers would be jealous of this little thing's natural camouflage. No tricorder, no internal sensor, no bio-filter had detected it.

S'Rorr thought at one point he might have just been going crazy.

((Flashback, Deck 8, Outside of S'Rorr's Quarters, 3 days ago))

S'Rorr sipped the last of the Raktajino that Commander Alentonis had introduced him to as he approached the door to his quarters then spit the hot liquid out in shock as he noticed something moving. His sharp, Caitian eyes darted do a spot on the wall but there was nothing there.

oO ... The brew must be making me jumpy.. Uff. Let's clean this up. Oo

((Flashback, Deck 12, Sick Bay, 2 days ago))

oO There it is again! Oo

Nurse: Please, try to sit still

S'Rorr cut him off by slipping off of the exam table, eyes fixed on a spot on the carpet. He crouched a little lower and crept in close, looking very much like a Terran cat staring at nothing at all. He'd seen something move. He had never been more certain of anything in his life. He was also becoming more and more certain that he was hallucinating and having another breakdown. S'Rorr's mind was quite excellent at holding contradictory ideas together in perfect cognitive dissonance.

Nurse: Saror? Are you okay?

S'Rorr: ... Ah.. Sorrry I.. thought I saw something.

Nurse: There's nothing there. ::adding to his notes::

S'Rorr: ::pausing for a minute more before rising up again::  No, no I'm sure I saw something. 

S'Rorr stepped into the exam room's doorway to peer out into the rest of sick bay in both directions.

Nurse: Saror.. Please come sit back down. I can't perform these tests while you're .. Hunting, or whatever you are doing.

((Flashback, Deck 10, Arboretum, 1 day ago))

S'Rorr: I'm NOT crazy. I know I've seen it.

Beck: This is your first month on a starship, isn't it?

S'Rorr crouched low in the grass, scanning every inch of the arboretum with tricorder in hand, uniform and hair disheveled. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping well.

S'Rorr: No, nonono. I already know what you're going to ssay, but I've already thought of that. I'm not just seeing things.

Ensign Beck crossed her arms and cocked her head skeptically to one side. She had a tricorder at her belt, but she'd long since given up trying to use it.

Beck: So you're seeing invisible creatures. That defy all the internal sensors, and tricorder scans, and everything else we've thrown at it. That there's no system anywhere on board that has noticed any unusual life signs at all.. and they're all wrong.

S'Rorr: ::exasperated:: YES! That's what I'm ssaying.

Beck: ::rolling her eyes:: And somehow, you're the ONLY one that has noticed anything at all. Is that right?

S'Rorr put his tricorder down and stood up to face her.

S'Rorr: That's rright. Maybe it's because my eyes evolved to notice tiny movement, and yours to hunt.. what, round fruit?

Beck: Hey. Fruit can be a wily foe. Elusive and vicious.

S'Rorr went back to the search.

((Present, narrow access vents, Deck 7))

S'Rorr: Yessss. It's herrre. Theey didn't belieeve me, but herre it is! Who chewed theese wirres, Beeck? Not mee! Eat yourr hearrt out, Automated pesst contrrol prrotocol, is this daamage staaandard?

There it was, evidence of.. something, at least. The wire casing had been eaten away by something with small teeth. S'Rorr flared his nostrils, then lifted his head up high enough and fast enough to bump his head on the top of the tube with a K-THNK.

S'Rorr: OW! Hsssst! That's the sscent, I've got it.

And then he saw it. A ripple along a wall, slipping away into a gas duct. Just as he'd seen it before. Not invisibility, but perfect camouflage. A creature that could bend light, sound, and even scans around it.

He'd noticed a small, three eyed reptilian creature down on the planet that matched its size and general shape, but how had it gotten aboard? Why was it chewing on power cabling?

S'Rorr: =/\= S'Rorr to Engineerring and Securrity. I havve FOUND it, scurrrying little prrey chewiing on the caables in.. envirronmental contrrol accesss duct 3 alphaa 9. I'm still traacking it. =/\=

Lieutenant Chase: =/\= Please, for last time ensign, this comm channel for real problem and need to STAY OPEN. =/\=

S'Rorr: =/\= You'll eat thosse worrds, Chase, ssend a team down and I'll sshow you.  =/\=

Anybody: =/\= Response =/\=

S'Rorr felt exhausted. And overheated. And his head hurt. But he felt VINDICATED. This was evidence.

oO Now where does that gas vent lead... Oo

Ensign S'Rorr

Ship's Counselor

USS Astraeus NCC-70652

A240206S04