“A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing.” – Part 1 – [backpost]
Posted on Tue Aug 20th, 2019 @ 12:07am by Commander Doctor Farkas Vanth DVM/MD & Petty Officer 3rd Class Arilla Salvi
Edited on on Tue Aug 20th, 2019 @ 12:25am
1,778 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
[USS Saigon] Mission New Haven S1 E0
Location: Various
Timeline: MD001 1000
Amiri had decided to spend some time exploring the station the U.S.S. Saigon was docked at since it would be a few days before they were scheduled to disembark on their first mission, and they presently only had a skeleton crew aboard.
It had been quite a while since the Caninoid had ‘stretched’ out into hir quadruped form, so s/he had decided before s/he left to strip down and do just that. The quadruped was now on New Haven station meandering through the various sojourning populace of the main promenade. S/he was having fun just sniffing about from place to place figuring out what scents s/he could find; getting sideways glances from some people less familiar with hir race, and gleeful coos and excited pleas from various races’ young who wanted to ‘pet the doggie.’
Meanwhile,
Yeoman Salvi had her nose in a PADD. It was how she preferred to walk around. To her way of thinking it prevented the outside world from seeing her though they could very well get a glimpse of the dark-haired beauty as they dodged out of her way when she moved down a corridor. Not known for her social abilities all of this was lost on Arilla.
Listening to the goings on around her though was a favorite past time and she alternated from what she was reading to listening to the life forms moving around her. The word ‘doggie’ brought her out of her thoughts fairly quickly and she glanced up wondering if the child had misspoken. Dogs were rare on space stations or starships. Sure, enough there was a dog. “Are you lost?” She crouched down in front of the animal as she blocked its path. “How’d you get loose on a space station,” she reached for it without thinking.
Vanth dodged the outstretched hand in the nick of time, but s/he did not dart like one might expect from a stray. Then out from behind a large fluff of neck fur appeared a medical-teal collar. Attached to the collar was a Starfleet emblem commbadge. It was of a simpler design, it was only the Starfleet arrowhead, and mimicking the style of a by-gone age, three tiny rank insignia indicated the mark of a commander. Unfortunately, the commbadge with its specially programmed universal translator was not activated now.
Amiri cocked hir head and gazed at the woman. S/he stood just outside of arms’ reach admiring her. S/he tried to discern from what she was wearing if the woman was a civilian or not, and if not what her rank was. Then a glint off something hit hir eyes. Vanth noticed a PADD and wondered what was on it. Could it be a graphic novel of some sort? Ducking hir head about, s/he tried to get a better look.
The creature was not at all acting like a dog. Arilla stood up, looking quite confused and then embarrassed. “I’m sorry … I’ve never met a member of your race before.” She wasn’t even sure she could make herself understood or if the person could understand her. She accidentally dropped the PADD but didn’t immediately stoop to pick it up.
The Caninoid took the opportunity to look at the PADD, it was in deed some sort of graphic media, it was in color and seemed to be printed left to right, so s/he guessed it was from the western hemisphere of Earth. S/he wanted to look at more but didn’t want to pry. S/he took a step back and uttered a feral vocalization combined with some body language, but nothing happened. Chiding hirself, s/he realized s/he’d forgotten to activate hir specially programed Universal Translator (UT). Squirming comically, s/he tried to rub the UT against hir body or something to activate it. It chirped and out of it came hir slightly mechanized ‘voice.’ -=/\=- I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting to run into anyone interested in talking to me. -=/\=-
Amiri reached down and gingerly picked the PADD up in hir mouth and reached out to hand it to the woman. -=/\=- What is this? I’m a fan of graphic media too, but I’ve never read this one. -=/\=-
“It was my fault, obviously I assumed something and it’s dangerous to do that.” Arilla looked down and picked up the PADD. “You can borrow it if you like. It’s from an author who lived centuries ago. He writes about a human man who can do magic, they call him a wizard. He’s rather humorous, and constantly getting himself into trouble because he’s a genuinely nice guy and is always helping people out.”
-=/\=- I’ll add it to my ‘to read’ list. -=/\=- Amiri tail-wagged and gave a canine equivalent of a smile. S/he cocked hir head trying to figure out the yeoman’s species. -=/\=- I’m sorry, where were you headed Ms?… -=/\=- S/he tried to trail off, hopefully to learn the young female’s name.
“Salvi, and well I just got off duty, but I wasn’t really headed anywhere, just out for a walk to clear my head.” She hated the idea of returning to her quarters. They were cramped, quiet and devoid of life. Generally, Arilla liked the quiet but she also liked warmth and comfort, neither of which her cold station quarters had. She knew she needed to amend that and soon because she had to sleep sometime.
-=/\=- Greetings Ms Salvi, I’m Doctor Vanth. -=/\=- S/he sat and raised hir right anterior paw up to shake. Hir race would have normally greeted with a nice friendly hug, but s/he assumed the humanoid would find that awkward. Something about the woman had triggered hir empathy; s/he added, -=/\=- I sense trepidation about something; is there something you’d like to talk about? -=/\=-
Arilla picked up the paw gently and then shook her head. “I’m just tired, not been sleeping well. I haven’t adjusted to my new quarters yet and I seem to be on high alert all night instead of relaxing into a deep slumber.” Why was she telling a stranger this?
By now it was clear the voice coming from the UT was intended to somewhat be the CMO’s voice in this form thus it seemed to blend into this form, and started to seem as though it came from the doctor hirself. “I’m sorry to hear that, sleep is important, have you talked to station ops about it? Perhaps I can help in some way?” Amiri asked with a slight sympathetic wine.
She shook her head wondering how station ops could help the situation. “I just need to get used to the room; I think. I’m almost always this way when I arrive on a new assignment. New quarters, new sleep pattern.” Arilla finished with a deep sigh. “How would you help?”
“Well is there anything that is bothering you? Maybe I could take a sniff?” Amiri’s tail began to wag lightly in a sort of half-smile sort of way.
“Noises, just new pipes and stuff I’m sure. Ships and space stations always have their little quirks, but if you want to see it, I guess I don’t object. Sure.” Arilla changed directions and waited for . . . “I’m sorry, what did you say your name was again?”
The Caninoid wagged hir tail more enthusiastically, “Doctor Vanth, but my friends call me Amiri, it’s my middle name.” S/he joined the young lady and followed along.
“Oh?” Arilla asked curiously as they walked. “Why your middle name? Is that what your parents called you as well? It’s kind of a tradition in my mother’s family to be called by your middle name, the only trouble with that is my grandmother, mother and I all have the same middle name so only my grandmother was ever called Osra.”
Along the way Amiri kept hir head low, sniffing about in order to keep track of where they were going. It was an instinct so s/he could find hir way back if s/he needed. New Haven Base was a huge place with over 100 decks after all. “I guess I just prefer it to ‘Farkas,’ seems a bit ridged that’s all.”
“Ah, I see.” She couldn’t disagree. “You could always change your name. There are some adults that do once they become of age.” It really wasn’t any of her business though and she probably should stop talking about it. “How long have you been stationed here.” Arilla said, quickly changing the subject.
“Well I’d entertain suggestions, but together my whole name means something.” Amiri continued to follow along. Thinking about being alone with this beauty made hir tail wag. “I’ve only just arrived last week; and you?”
“Same,” Arilla replied as she counted doorways when they neared her quarters after several turbolift rides of near silence. “I think I like it here. It’s nice and open. Except for my quarters.” She turned suddenly. “Here we are.” She typed in a quick access code, because she always locked her quarters. “Home.” The room was sparsely decorated and mostly gray, as usual. There were a few small things that Arilla had brought with her. A black and gray horse figurine that was only a few centimeters tall, a thick knitted throw in a light peach color and an image of another dark-haired woman with spots down the side of her face.
Vanth entered slowly, looking about and scenting the air. S/he wasn’t sure what to say or where to start. It had been a long time since s/he’d been invited into anyone’s quarters. “Nice. Travel light I see?” S/he went to the throw blanket and investigated it. It mostly smelled of plant fibers and Arilla, “did you make this?”
“I did yes, one of the things that’s supposed to relax me, learning to knit. And I suppose it has though I don’t find it very relaxing when I make a mistake and must start over or take out rows, it’s really quite frustrating sometimes. Would you like something to drink or eat?”
To Be Continued…
Commander Doctor Farkas Vanth DVM/MD
Second officer/Chief Medical Officer
USS Saigon
&
Petty Officer 3rd class Arilla Salvi
Captain's Yeoman
SB New Haven
NPC
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