From: Jasmina Grosic (jgrosic_at_yahoo.de)
Date: Sun May 20 2007 - 01:11:42 PDT
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“Small Furry Creatures”
(continued from “Maternity”)
“In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.” Douglas Adams – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
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Location: GATEWAY-2
Stardate: 2.70520.1002
Time Index: Before the discovery of the murder
Scene: Corridor outside Yao's quarters
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This wasn’t the first time Yao was looking at a wall of feces. Well, actually it was, but it wasn’t the first time someone had expressed utter disdain to the J’naii in a similarly distasteful manner. So, the only thought that went through Yao’s head was “Oh no, not again.”
Yao’s first impulse was to punch someone.
Yao’s second impulse was to break down and cry.
The J’naii did neither. Instead, Yao tried to relax, inhaled deeply … and retched once more.
Pressing one hand in front of the mouth, Yao turned away and found the closest computer access panel in the corridor. While taking small, shallow breaths through the mouth the scientist asked for directions to the nearest accessible replicator and then walked away.
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Time Index: A few minutes later
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When Yao returned, there were some small black orbs in the J’naii’s hand. Yao stood far enough away from the door so as to be able to suppress the need to throw up and threw the orbs at it. They exploded into a cloud of white dust. Instantly the stench disappeared and when the dust had settled Yao saw that the door was clean. A careful sniff confirmed that the air in the corridor now faintly smelled of petunias.
Avoiding touching the white dust that was piling up on the floor, Yao stepped inside the quarters and the clean door slid close again while the cleaning mechanisms of the station already began to dissolve the offending remains on the floor.
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Scene: Inside Yao’s quarters
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Inside, now that the threat of anyone seeing the embarrassment was gone, Yao let go. Shouting expletives in the J’naii native language, Yao upended one of the armchairs which almost crashed into the crystal display case.
Then the J’naii went into the bathroom to wash off the smell.
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Time Index: about ten minutes later
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Yao was standing in front of the open display case with an old fashioned duster in one hand. Even though in a self-cleaning environment, nothing really still gathered dust, cleaning and exactly positioning every single crystal centered the J’naii. While brushing the multitude of feathers over one object after the other, Yao’s thoughts organized themselves and a plan began to form.
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Scene: OPS
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When she was sure no one was looking, Kat put both hands to her back and stretched. Her back was giving her more trouble than during her other pregnancies, but she didn’t want any special treatment from her colleagues. Of course they already did treat her more carefully as it was, but she didn’t want to provoke them into doing that even more.
When the turbolift opened and the new Chief Science Officer walked into OPS, the ExO let her hands drop to her sides and gave the insecure looking newcomer a little smile.
Yao approached the superior officer with a contained look.
“I’m not sure if you’re the right person to ask for permission for my plan, but could I talk to you for a minute, if you have the time?”
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Scene: Chief Operation’s Officer’s office
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Kat was sitting back in her chair, her hands resting on her belly; she held them intertwined as if she was about to pray. The request coming from the scientist in the opposite chair was quite incredulous, and she needed to contain herself not to laugh.
“So, basically, what you want to do is hold a meeting every week to do what exactly?”
Yao leaned forward in the chair, “Well,” basically, “the J’naii unconsciously mimicked the other person’s words, “I want to showcase a different species every week. We get someone from a little known culture to tell the audience about everything that sets them apart from the rest. Of course the first meeting will be about J’naii culture. In my first few days on the station I’ve already encountered some, “ here Yao hesitated, searching for the right phrasing, “curiosity about my species.”
“And you think this is something that’s in accordance with Federation regulations?” Kat asked. She had noticed the slight hesitation and was certain the J’naii was not telling her the whole truth. Certainly Yao wanted to stage these presentations not just out of scientific curiosity.
“Why not? I think it is a perfect example of the Vulcan credo IDIC. And besides, I’ve found that people often hate what they fear and fear what they don’t know. And if we take away that fear, then the hate should disappear as well.”
Kat raiser her eyebrows. “You’re sure there’s nothing more to this?”
“No, it’s just a project I’ve been thinking about for some time. And I already have a venue confirmed. The proprietor of the Castle Tepes Nite Club is so kind as to let me use their premises. They even came up with an appropriate name for the event.”
„And that would be?“ Kat asked uneasily.
“Meet the Freak,” Yao replied when the chirp of the communicator interrupted them and the Security Chief announced the discovery of a body.
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Scene: Science Lab One
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It was now three hours after the end of Yao’s shift, and the scientist was about to begin the autopsy on the dead, faceless body of the so far unidentified man.
Yao, not for the first time that day, took a deep breath only to regret it immediately afterwards.
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Scene: The Crystalline Entity, back room
Time Index: Noon that same day
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Martin Bishop was washing his hands for the fifth time, but the stench of targh dung wouldn’t come off. Luckily, his shop was filled with the sweet stench of incense, so that on the off chance that a customer might actually wander in, they wouldn’t detect any other smell.
He took a small brush and got to work underneath his fingernails. When he was satisfied with the result he stripped off his tie-dyed tunic and shoved it into the replicator for recycling. Just when he got dressed in an almost identical garment and stepped out into the shop area, an angry Bajoran stormed into the shop. It was Morid Bisanu, the owner of the other crystal shop on the promenade.
Bishop gave him a wide grin thinking, **I had more than enough manure, so why not divide it up evenly?**
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NRPG: Again, not much character interaction. I’m hoping for senior crew attendance at the freak show, however ;) But I know it’ll probably have to wait until the murder investigation and the excitement about the orb have come to an end. Also, I’ll make my next post a plot advancing one, promise.
Joy: Is the Chief Operation’s Officer’s office Kat’s? I wasn’t sure what the difference between the ExO and the Chief Operation’s Officer is.
Jerome: What a nice welcome. :P You’re right, not using personal pronouns is quickly becoming a problem.
Jasmina Grosic «jgrosic_at_yahoo.de»
Lieutenant Yao
CSciO
GATEWAY STATION - 2
“Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was Oh no, not again. Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the Universe than we do now.” Douglas Adams – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
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