Stardate 2267

It was a regular day on the Starship Enterprise. The ship was in destination of Corinth 5 for a diplomatic meeting that Starfleet had called Capt. Kirk to preside over, since previous discussions had ended terribly. There was little detail as to why the discussions had ended poorly, but their mission was to establish a friendly diplomatic relation. They were five days away from their destination and some were taking the pressure of a peace-making mission harder than others.

"You can't eat," Kirsash chided her friend.

"But I want to…." Veron whined in response. She stared at the food in Kirsash's plate, looking enviously at it. She tried to snatch a piece of fish from the edge of the plate, but Kirsash swatted her hand away with her quick reflexes. "That's mean!"

"Don't be childish. You know the food wouldn't do well for your system. Besides, you need to be in top shape for Corinth."

"I'm probably not going to go. Please?"

The two young officers made for a very odd pair. The oddest of the two at first glance was Kirsash, a Felixian that had joined the crew a year ago when she had been found stranded on the deserted planet Vigo. Her past was filled with secrets that seemed to be known only to the Captain and Veron, but due to her extensive knowledge on diplomatic relations, the crew had readily accepted her as the chief officer in that field. For some of the crew, it had been difficult because as a Felixian, Kirsash was a cat-like humanoid. Her black and white striped fur was offset by her vivid green eyes which seemed to see everything and terrified some of the officers less exposed to non-Terrans. The only other off-putting features were her tail, which was not long for a Felixian but did seem to get in the way of the crew at times, and her ears, cat-like and located on top of her head. Some of the younger officers found it creepy that she seemed to know when people were entering the room, but it was simply that she could hear them coming.

Veronica Carter might have seemed to be a normal crew member with odd blue hair, but in fact she was an android. It had been about three months since her body had been destroyed in a scientific mission that had been ambushed; her brain had survived intact, so McCoy and Scotty had decided to give their latest project, the E.L.A.N.I. unit, a chance to save Veron. It had been a pet project of Scotty's, an advanced weapons droid but was modified in production to accommodate Veron's mind. They had placed her brain in the E.L.A.N.I. unit and it had been a success. Most of the crew was unaware of this, but Veron had been an android ever since. Her system was a complex assimilation with the main components being life support (for her brain), hydraulic pumps – especially to chemically replicate emotions – and a mini warp core that powered her new body. She had none of her original internal organs – save her brain – which was also the reason why Kirsash was denying her food since it would probably end up in her ventilation system. There were only two things her system couldn't stand, and they were food and submersion in liquid.

"You will most likely go to Corinth. Diplomatic relations have been on edge since the last mission. The Captain would be a fool not to bring you along as a safety precaution."

"I must agree with you, Ms. Solaris," A monotone voice added to the conversation. It took Kirsash a moment to realize that she was the one being addressed. She still wasn't used to her last name, as it had been given to her by Dr. McCoy. Her species simply did not have last names.

The owner of the voice, Spock, stood just to Kirsash's right, with McCoy standing right behind him. Spock seemed to be pleased by Kirsash's analysis, but she was never sure of him. His reactions weren't difficult for her to read, but they were so rare that she wasn't always sure of what she saw.

"Thank you Mr. Spock. I do believe that we will be able to make progress with the relations this time."

"If they don't attack us first," Veron whispered to the table, but only loud enough for Kirsash's keen hearing to pick up.

"Cheerful thought," Kirsash grimly whispered back. She directed the next sentence to Spock, "I do think, however, that we will have to tread carefully."

"Agreed. Excuse me, I must head to the deck." Spock made a slight bow and then walked away. McCoy approached Kirsash, sitting to her left. He ears shifted so that they could fully face him

"How have you been adjusting to the ship?" McCoy asked. Kirsash was used to his seemingly innocent questions by now. Since he was in charge of the health of everyone on board the ship, including mental, he regularly checked in on her since she hadn't undergone the same training that the other crew members had taken before the five year mission. He seemed to think that Kirsash was going to snap at any minute and "have a mental breakdown" as Veron had so eloquently said, which amused Kirsash to no end.

"Very well, I believe. I miss the greenery plants once in awhile, but everyone has been very accepting of my… appearance, so I would say everything is going well."

"That's good to hear. You should be due for a check-up soon, so before we arrive at Corinth, come see me."

"Well, I'm free this afternoon, so I'll be there once I've finished lunch."

"Perfect." McCoy smiled to her as he stood, a genuine one that he always had for Kirsash. Every time she saw it, it shocked her. 'Shows how little kindness you've had in your life," Kirsash thought bitterly. But she pushed that thought to the side and turned her entire head to the left as she watched McCoy walk out of the mess hall. Veron, always one to use an opportunity, chose this moment to steal a piece of fish and eat it.

Kirsash's ears flipped back as she heard Veron doing something stupid and turned just in time to see her swallow the piece of fish and start to choke.

"Spit it out! Spit it out right now!" Kirsash yelled at her, but Veron was incapable. The food was already in the pipes. Kirsash took out her communicator. "McCoy, this is Kirsash. Your idiot of an android is choking." She knew she could have just run to get him, but she didn't want to leave Veron by herself.

"Oh for fu… I'm not an engineer! If nothing's wrong with her brain, don't call me." McCoy hung up and Kirsash stared at the comm in shock. A shiver ran through her body and her fur started to rise in irritation.

Veron, from the table, was able to choke out, "Dad, you're an ass."

"What? Never mind," Kirsash quickly called Scotty. "Scotty, Veron is choking on some food that she stole from me…"

Kirsash pulled the comm away from her face as her sensitive ears flipped back to reduce the pain that the string of curses created as they barged out and could be heard by the entire mess hall. He calmed down enough to tell her, "I'll be righ' there. Try to keep her from panicking, because honestly, she doesn't need to breathe, but if she panics, the food gets deeper in her pipes."

Kirsash shut-off the comm and sat by Veron, patting her back and purring like the healers had done on her planet, hoping that would calm her down. Her tried calming herself but the ringing in her eyes from all the recent yelling was too distracting.

While this strange scene had occurred, the rest of the mess hall had continued to eat because both of them were so odd that this was just a par for the course. Neither of them was out cold or bleeding, so there was no need to go to their aid…. yet.

Scotty arrived quickly and dragged Veron with him to the engineering deck, looking more than annoyed at his creation. Kirsash knew that Veron was in good, if angry, hands, so instead of following her friend, she headed to the medical bay to have a few words with McCoy and get her check-up.