Jim and Spock went to Ensign Barrows's quarters, and Spock rang the door chime. There was no answer for a moment, but then, the door opened. "Ensign Barrows," Jim said.

Ensign Barrows was visibly startled that the captain was at his door. He stood at attention. "Captain," he replied.

"At ease. Have you seen anything strange going on tonight?"

Barrows looked rather puzzled by that question. "Strange, Sir?"

"Yes. We've encountered a…" Jim was not sure what they had encountered. "Well, it was an animal…a big one that kinda resembles a wolf."

Ensign Barrows was silent a moment. "Oh, well, no I haven't seen anything like that."

"You were treated for some injuries on our last stopover, right?" Jim asked. "Doctor McCoy said you went on a hike and you had some minor injuries. Are those okay now?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Good. I just wondered if you had seen anything strange down here. If you do, you'll let us know, won't you?"

"Absolutely."

"Carry on."

Jim and Spock walked away as they heard the door slide shut on the ensign's quarters. "What do you think, Spock?" Jim asked.

"Captain, I do not believe we can ask someone if they are a werewolf and get an exactly normal answer."

"I didn't ask him if he was a werewolf?"

"You implied it."

"How did I do that? I did not say the word werewolf."

"No, but you asked if he has seen a large wolf like creature and then you asked about his injuries, which revealed that you asked the doctor or he would not have told you."

Jim scowled at that. "Do you always have to be so logical?"

"Yes."

"I don't think anyone but you would pick that out of what I said."

"I am not certain of that, Jim."

Jim stopped when they came to the next corridor. "Where could it go?" he asked. "There's no way it could disappear on this ship. It has to be here."

"I agree, but if it is, as you suggest, a werewolf, then it would not remain so."

"What do you mean?"

"As the legend goes, those who become werewolves remain so for only a short time."

"Are you telling me someone on this ship is a werewolf? Wait a minute! I never said it was a werewolf. Where are you getting this?" Jim looked at Spock with one of his suspicious looks. "I think you think it's a werewolf." He folded his arms. "Spock, have you been reading horror stories?"

"Captain, I assure you, I do not believe in myths."

"You don't? Then how do you know there are myths?"

Spock raised an eyebrow. "I do believe you are making fun of me."

Jim chuckled at that. "Not at all. I'm just having fun with you. Let's go."

They started walking again, keeping their phasers ready. They found nothing as they made their way all the way to Engineering. "Scotty, have you seen or heard anything weird down here?" Jim asked.

"No, Captain," Scotty answered. "What should I be looking for?"

Jim frowned. "It's…kinda like a wolf, but I think bigger."

"You mean there's an animal loose on the ship?"

"I don't know, but there was something in the cargo bay and now it's out."

Scotty looked alarmed as he looked around them. "And you think it was a wolf?" he asked.

"Yeah."

Spock had thought Jim was a champion liar before, but now he had a hard time covering up any details about anything. Jim did not like the idea of some creature running around the ship. It could tear up something vital. "Maybe we should change course and go to a nearby planet till we can resolve this," he said.

"That may be a wise move, Captain," Spock replied.

"You get some security together and keep searching. I'll be on the Bridge."

Spock nodded. Jim turned and headed for the Bridge. He did not like walking down the corridor alone right now but he went on toward the Bridge. As he entered the Bridge, Sulu was still in his seat. "Mister Sulu, are we near any planets?" he asked.

Sulu checked. "There's one that we could reach within a day," he answered.

"Set course. I think until we find out what's going on on the ship we should be close to a planet."

Jim sat down in the captain's chair. He had not been sleepy before, but now he felt tired. He figured he would not be sleeping for a while now. Soon, the day cycle would begin on the ship. "Reduce the alert to yellow, Mister Sulu," he said.

"What happened, Sir?" Sulu asked as he looked around at Jim.

"There's was some sort of creature in the cargo bay," Jim replied. He remembered he had that slime on his uniform. "Take care of the Bridge. I'll be back shortly."

Jim left the Bridge and went to his quarters. He changed his clothes and saw that there was a red place where that slime had touched his skin. He scratched it but thought he better go to the sick bay. Bones was sitting at a computer terminal when Jim entered the sick bay.

"Did you find the creature?" Bones asked.

"No," Jim replied. He pulled up his shirt sleeve. "That slimy stuff seems to have given me a rash."

Bones grabbed Jim's hand to look at the rash. "When did you notice this?" he asked.

"Just a few minutes ago. I went to change my uniform."

Bones scanned Jim's arm. "Looks like it soaked into your skin. I'll take care of that rash."

"Wait a minute. What do you mean, it soaked into my skin?"

"Just what I said. Skin is permeable, you know."

"And what is this stuff going to do now that it's in my skin?"

"I don't know, but if you start feeling weird or growing hair, let me know."

Jim frowned at that sarcasm. "That's not funny."

"Do I ever say anything funny?"

Jim shook his head. He waited while Bones treated his arm for the rash. "Let me know if that doesn't go away by tomorrow morning," he said.

"You really think we're not going to see each other before then?"

"I don't know."

"Are you sure you didn't treat anyone else for injuries while we were on our last visit?"

"I'll check my records."

"Good. Let me know."

Jim left the medical bay and walked back to the cargo bay paying close attention to the floor as he went. He did not even see any of the slime on the floor. He could not figure out why the creature would have left slime in the cargo bay and not drip any on the floor outside it. As he entered the cargo bay, there were clean-up crews there to clean up the mess. They all stood at attention when they saw Jim. "As you were," Jim said as he walked up to the crates that had been smashed.

Jim looked closer than he had before at the crates which had been forced open. The slime was definitely there, but he did not touch it this time. He thought that creature had slung some on him when it swung its claws at him too. He looked inside the crate. Just about everything that was in it was smashed and scattered on the floor. He looked around the cargo bay, but the one crate was the only one that had been broken into. For what? Jim examined the containers that were in the crate. It was mostly food which had been ripped open. He could not understand why the creature would have been ripping food open, nor how it got aboard the ship.

While Jim was there, Spock arrived to conduct a more thorough investigation as well. "Captain, have you found something?" he asked.

"No," Jim replied. "I was just looking around. I wanted to see exactly what the creature was doing in here."

Spock looked at the damage for a moment. "I do not believe the creature came aboard the ship in the crate," he declared.

"Why?"

"The markings appear to suggest that the crate was forced open from the outside because of the direction of the claw marks."

Jim looked at what Spock was talking about. "I see. So, then how did it get aboard?"

"I am not certain. It would have to walk…or it was already aboard."

Jim scowled at that suggestion. "I think we would have seen it before now if it had been here."

"I agree."

"You're confusing me now."

"Perhaps we are looking for something tangible when in fact the creature is a hologram."

"A hologram?" Jim pointed to his rash. "That is not a hologram."

"That is correct. However, it is possible for holograms to do real world damage."

"Come on, Spock. I don't think this was a hologram."

"Perhaps not, but it is worth investigating. I also have other theories which I intend to investigate."

"Are you going to share them with me?"

"Not yet, Captain. However, I would warn the crew to be cautious during the night cycle."

"I intend to do that. That's what the yellow alert is for. I'll see you later."

Jim left the cargo bay and made his way back to the Bridge. They were now in the daytime cycle on the ship. He felt as though he had not taken advantage of the nighttime cycle and it was starting to catch up with him. Still, he sat in the captain's chair. "Mister Sulu, are we close to that planet yet?" he asked.

"We should be there tomorrow morning," Sulu replied. He looked at Jim. "Am I hearing it right? There's a werewolf on the ship?"

"Where did you hear that?"

"Just something coming through the grapevine."

"I don't know what we have on the ship but I did not say it's a werewolf. You can pass that through this grapevine."

"Yes sir."

Jim frowned. He knew how rumors could start on a ship. He had heard a few himself, but most of the time he did not hear anything simply because he was the captain and no one told him anything unless Bones heard it and told him. He supposed it was the way of things. People assumed they would be in trouble if they told their captain a rumor. He knew there were whispers and things going around the ship and that there was some truth in some of it. However, it was to be expected when a ship was in space for as long as they had been.

As Jim sat there during the day, he did not receive anymore word about anything, there was no howling, and everyone seemed to be going about their normal routine. He finally stood up. "Mister Sulu, you have the Bridge," he said.

Jim went to his quarters and sat down at his computer terminal. He did not want anyone to know he was looking up information on werewolves. He had to admit, the thing he had seen did look like a werewolf and they had no idea how it got onto the ship, so what other explanation was there? He would just keep that notion to himself for now, although he thought Spock thought it was a werewolf as well.