Caught
Joint post- Commander Niples and Katrina Swete
Katrina Swete's quarters
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A very strict security officer knocked on the door. Katrina opened the door a
crack and peered through.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Let me in, ma'am," said the commanding voice of the secirity officer. He was
wearing a leather jacket covering the standard red security shirt. Dark
sunglasses made his eyes impossible to see. Katrina didn't really want to
mess with him, but she didn't want to give away the fact that she had a cat
in her quarters.
"We have detected a life form in these quarters and must check it out. An
unquarantined animal may carry a disease which is dangerous to the entire
ship. If we find one, it will have to be destroyed," said the man, matter of
factly.
"I don't have a cat" said Katrina.
The security officer pushed his way into the room. Katrina protested and
ordered him to leave, but she was ignored. He looked around, and soon saw the
cat curled up on the empty bunk. He turned back to Katrina. "No cat, eh?" He
grabbed her arm and started to pull her out of the room.
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Drive room
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Katrina was dragged by the arm into the busy drive room. Niples was giving
orders to Alotta, who was shouting those orders to the away team on the
planet below.
"...Don't kill any of them, we don't want to make them any more angry than
they already are, they might strike back and kill more civilians. I don't
want that on my conscience," said Niples through a microphone to the away
team. Whitewolfs voice answered back.
The security officer coughed. Niples turned to see him.
"This woman was found with an unquarantined cat onboard...."
"Look, I'm a bit busy...." said Niples, trying to smile politely. "Can't you
find the Captain?"
"The captain is...... busy," said the security officer. Niples wondered where
the captain was. He should have been here at the nerve centre of the
operation.
"Please don't let then take my cat away, Seymour!" pleaded Katrina, shaking
the redshirt's grip off her arm.
Niples looked at the tactical sensor screen while everyone in the room
shouted reports at him. Seymour turned back to the stiff security officer.
"Just let her have it. A cat won't do any harm....."
"But Sir! The captain's orders were for any non-human life forms to be
immediately dissintigrated. Or to be killed in any other nasty way....."
"Look," said Seymour, "the captain tends to go over the top sometimes. Just
let her have it."
He turned to Katrina. "Make sure you get it quarantined though- or the
Captain might order it to be killed."
Katrina smiled at bright as the sun. She bounded across the room and hugged
Niples tightly. The commander immediately got embarassed, and quickly turned
back to his work.
***Later***
The security officer walked around a darkened corricor and met Captain
Cannon. After a moment of silence, the security officer said:
"The missile launcher room was unguarded as you instructed sir."
"Good." said Cannon. "And did you do as I asked?"
"Yes sir." said the Security officer.
Cannon clapped his hands together and smiled grimly.