One Small Pur for Caitian Kind

Posted on Wed Aug 9th, 2017 @ 12:33pm by Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa & Commander K'Niras Sh'howul

Mission: S01E01 - At the Brink of Night
Location: Deck 1 | Bridge - Deck 5 | Transporter Room

The Bridge

The Bridge had been calm as the skeletal relief crew continued through space at alert condition yellow. The Captain was still awake, downing the caffeine like nobody's business though she given her usual Bridge crew time to rest. She sat in the center chair, the Captain's seat.

Three hours out. That was how far away the USS Constitution and USS Enterprise were. Cornet Jakku was pulling some more Bridge time to gain experience. Comm chatter was fairly quiet, but the young Trill had his headset on and earpiece in monitoring the silence.

It was the Crewmen in the navigator's seat who broke the silence with a tremble. "Captain, we have a starship on sensors," she said somewhat frantically. "Unidentified," she added with some concern.

Klingons thought Fig, grabbing onto the armrests of her Captain's chair. I should have been ready for this. Surprise attack while we are alone the thought came across her mind as she got ready to order an increase to alert condition red. "Mister Jakku, hail the unidentified vessel," ordered the Captain.

"Correction, Captain," said the Crewmen at the navigator's seat. "Federation transmitter is transmitting... identification coming in... Constitution class... USS Enterprise!" shouted the relief navigator with excitement and a sigh of relief.

The Captain smirked after letting go of the armrests that she had been white knuckling. "Leave it to Pike to bring me on the edge of my seat," she said nearly under her breath. "Mister Jakku, hail the Enterprise," the Captain instructed.

Turning his chair around, the Trill looked at the Captain. "Sir... we are being hailed by the Enterprise. They are requesting we lower shields and prepare for a crew transfer on behest of Captain Pike."

Fig stood up from her chair and gave a nod at the Trill. "Crew transfer?" she asked.

"Yes, Sir. Operations Division, Communications Officer rank of Lieutenant," the Trill at Communications elaborated.

Captain Figueroa couldn't help but smile. "So he arrives early and is sending me crew... Mister Jakku, send Captain Pike my gratitude and approval for transfer. I'll meet the lieutenant in the transporter room."


Transporter Room

Lieutenant K'Niras Sh'howul stepped onto the transporter pad on the Enterprise, his home for the last three years, and stepped off the transporter pad onto the U.S.S Musashi. He was both excited and nervous. A whole new crew for him to learn and a whole new Captain to follow. He had done a little bit of research on the ship and what he could find of her crew, but he was still nervous. He was, by far, not the only Caitian in Starfleet, but it was possible that he would be the only one on this ship. It was interesting to work with Terran's. He straightened his uniform and smoothed down his fur. For some reason, everytime he took a transporter anywhere it made all of his fur stand up on end.

When the Captain walked through the doors, the officer had already re-materialzed and was standing there looking rather nervous. In the other uniform used by Starfleet at the time, Fig looked up and smiled seeing what looked like an oversized bipedal house cat in a long sleeved high collared turtle neck of a light caramel beige. I can only imagine how uncomfortable that must be with all that fur thought the Captain.

"Well, the first thing we are going to do is get you assigned to quarters and have the materials officer get your measurements and get you some new uniforms" said Fig with a nod. He? She? the Captain was not so well versed in Caitian anatomy to know especially when clothed in one of the bulky uniforms. "I hate to ask this, Lieutenant, but...uh masculine or feminine pronouns?" asked the Captain.

K'Niras nodded. "Masculine..." He smiled, showing teeth just a little. It wasn't a threatening gesture. "I know I'm short,
but I'm not that short, Captain," he joked openly. "Of course most of the females in my littler are bigger than me."
He made a strange sort of chuffing sound, possibly chuckling, his whiskers vibrating. "I'd do just about anything to get this uniform off..." He pulled at his collar with one clawed finger, his ears laying back a little in his displeasure.

"You do look quite uncomfortable in that uniform. I think you will find the jumpsuit style uniforms we use on the Musashi more comfortable. I was never really a fan of that uniform," she said eyeing the monstrosity.

She smiled a bit herself, ever so slightly. "I meant no offense of course. It is just underneath that uniform and all that lovely fur, it's difficult for some of us who are not used to Caitians to know with certainty," she added trying to excuse her lack of knowledge.

"No offense taken, Captain. I assure you." He showed his front teeth a little again, grinning in a Caitian fashion. "We also don't really have gender specific names, so that only adds to the difficulty. Females do tend to have..." He made a gesture in front of his own chest, signifying breasts. "But... I am smaller so if I were female it would make sense that I would have smaller... you know." He chuffed again and dropped his hands to his sides. "That aside... I am far from offended. I am looking forward to being part of the crew here and I feel blessed to have been offered the position." He bowed slightly. "Will you be accompanying me to my next location?"

"Good things can come in small packages," said Fig with a polite smile. "I wish I could escort you to your quarters, Lieutenant, but I need to speak with Captain Pike. We were not expecting the Enterprise for another hour or two," she explained kindly. "You can use one of the ship's computer stations to locate a vacant room and lay claim to it. I was not expecting a transfer so we don't have one specifically assigned to you yet."

"Thank you, Captain. I will do just that. Do I need to check in with any of the other senior staff? Perhaps the second officer for duty shifts?" He smiled again, his ears perking forward this time with his question. "May I ask, if I lay claim to a room will I be expected to move to an assigned one at a later date?" He knew the question might sound overly concerned, but it did make a difference to him on how much effort he would place in "moving in" so to speak.

The Captain nodded and cleared her throat. "My First Officer is tied up at the moment so please see my Second Officer, Dr. Samuels... Commander Samuels. He's the ship's Chief Science Officer," explained Fig. "And as for your rooms," she simply shrugged. "As far as I am concerned Lieutenant, the room you pick is yours for the duration of your service aboard," Fig said briskly. "I have no plans on playing musical bunks with personnel."

"Ah, very good. Thank you Captain. I didn't wish to get settled and then have to move. I'm sure you understand." It was actually very important to him to be able to move into a room for an extended period of time. His people based much of their lives on scent. A room filled with your scent was important for feelings of security and comfort. He smiled again and bowed to her. "I will report to the Commander. Is there anything else?"

"I understand perfectly, Lieutenant" replied Fig with a slight smile. "I served on a small starship once, so small we even had to hot bunk at times. That's never fun" she added with a sigh, remembering the small Archer class she was on once. "Nothing else from me at this time. Go right on ahead, Lieutenant. Dismissed" she said sharply yet politely. The Captain was always very crisp when speaking.