Disclaimer: Still don't own Star Trek, which on third thought is a shame since then I'd at least have a productive reason for thinking about it…
A/N: This chapter: The return of Surak. Yay! I'm quite fond of this chapter, myself. I hope you guys are too! ^_^
Part Ten:
Cat On Board
As you will recall, when the Enterprise left Mycelia V they had a cat named Surak on board. You knew this. Captain Kirk did not. Dr. McCoy decided that maybe he didn't really want to find out what Kirk would do about the cat, and chose to smuggle him aboard instead. He has successfully hidden him from the Captain's notice in Sickbay for the last week. This success will not last much longer:
Kirk had been hearing rumors. He'd ignored them at first, but when they all started agreeing with each other he decided it was time to investigate. Consequently, when his shift ended he wandered down to Sickbay, in search of McCoy.
"Hi, Jim," McCoy greeted him. "Anything I can do for you?"
"I'm not sure. I've been hearing some…stories though."
"Oh?" McCoy said cautiously. "What sort of stories?"
"Oh, just some rumors," Kirk said casually.
McCoy had a bad feeling about this. He hid it admirably. "Rumors? Well, you know how rumors fly on little ships like this. There's a saying about rumors, you know: believe half of what you see and none of what you hear."
"That so? Does that mean I should completely ignore the rumors saying you brought a cat on board?"
McCoy feigned surprise. "A cat? Me? Bring a cat? You've got to be kidding, Jim!"
Kirk just looked at him. "You're certain there's no cat here?"
McCoy spread his hands innocently. "It's just gossip, Jim. Malicious gossip, intended to smear my good name." As he spoke, one hand brushed against a counter top. A single small hypo fell and clattered against the floor. A furry black streak dashed out from under a table, darted between Kirk's ankles, and pounced on the tool. McCoy groaned.
Kirk felt a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. He sternly suppressed it. "So. Malicious gossip, eh?"
"Now, Jim…"
"Looks to me like a rather large furry smear on your good name."
McCoy sighed and picked up the cat, pulling the hypo away from him. "Do not eat my hypo, Surak. I promise it won't do your digestion any good." Surak took another swipe at the hypo, but McCoy held it out of reach. "You couldn't just stay under the table and behave yourself, could you?"
"Mrrrow," Surak demanded.
"Oh, hush." McCoy turned back to Kirk. "I can explain, Jim."
"You brought a cat on board, completely without authorization. How do you propose explaining that?"
McCoy considered and decided he better try a different tactic. "He's perfectly harmless, you know. And he's awfully sweet, Jim. See, you haven't gotten to know him so you just don't appreciate him." McCoy handed Surak to the slightly less than willing Kirk. "There now, isn't he cute? And he's so nice and furry."
"I don't approve of furry pets on my ship," Kirk said stiffly.
"Go on, scratch his head, he likes that," McCoy encouraged.
Kirk grudgingly scratched Surak between the ears. Surak responded with enthusiastic purring.
"There, see, he's purring. That means he likes you."
"The tribbles purred," Kirk said darkly. "The tribbles liked everyone."
McCoy shrugged. "He's a cat, Jim. Cats aren't like tribbles. I promise we won't wind up with thousands of kittens."
"I doubt Starfleet would approve."
"If you can fiddle around with alien cultures, I ought to be able to keep a cat."
Surak, oblivious to the discussion going on over his head, continued his purring. Kirk was starting to waver. "Well…he is pretty cute…You sure he's harmless?"
"Completely."
"I guess you can keep him then. For now anyway." Kirk set Surak down on the floor again.
McCoy beamed. "Thanks, Jim!"
"But if that cat has kittens…" he warned.
"It's a boy, Jim."
"But you didn't get him on Earth, now did you? And the tribbles didn't have gender."
"Sure, Jim. Whatever you say."
* * *
Spock had been hearing rumors. He'd learned in the past that it was usually wise to keep track of what Dr. McCoy was doing, so investigating the rumors was a perfectly logical thing to do. Curiosity had nothing to do with it.
Spock entered Sickbay. McCoy was across the room, putting some beakers away.
"Hello, Spock. What do you need?" McCoy asked.
"I do not need anything. I am simply investigating rumors I heard regarding a cat you took on board."
"Oh, right. Are those rumors still flying?"
"Yes, as should be obvious since I have heard them."
"It was a rhetorical question. Anyway, since Jim knows I guess there's no harm in telling you I've got a cat. He's asleep on one of the biobeds." At that moment the cat wandered into the room, and looked inquiringly at Spock. "Correction: was asleep."
"Then the rumors are accurate. Why did you feel compelled to bring a cat back to the Enterprise?"
"He's just such a cute little guy."
"Then it was not a logical decision?"
"I suppose not." McCoy hid a smile and said casually, "Incidentally, I named him Surak."
Spock blinked. "You named him…Surak?"
"Mm-hmm. I thought it suited him."
"You named a cat after a great Vulcan philosopher because it suited him?"
"That's right." McCoy was enjoying himself immensely. "I already said so twice. You feel all right, Spock?"
Spock blinked again. "I am fine. I am simply unable to account for why you would name a cat Surak."
"Oh well, I thought he looked like him," McCoy said, picking Surak up.
"How can a cat resemble an ancient Vulcan philosopher?"
McCoy shrugged. "They've both got black hair and pointed ears. What more do you need? I almost named him Spock."
Spock blinked once again. "May I ask why you did not name him Spock?"
"Why, Spock! Are you hurt that I didn't name my cat after you?"
"Of course not," Spock said hastily. "It is merely a matter of intellectual curiosity."
"Right," McCoy agreed cheerfully. "I thought about it for a while and decided it might not be a good idea to name him Spock. I was thinking: what if he got out of Sickbay? It wouldn't do much for my reputation if I had to go out in the hall and call Spock home for dinner. Can you picture that? There I'd be, standing in the corridor, shouting 'Here, Spock! Dinner time!'"
Spock permitted himself a very faint smile. "That would not have improved either of our reputations aboard this ship," he agreed.
* * *
Ensign Jones had been hearing rumors. As a matter of self-preservation, he usually found it a good idea to check out any rumors. No telling what might be at the base of them. And you really couldn't be too careful.
So he wandered down to Sickbay.
McCoy noticed him standing nervously by the door. "Ah, Ensign…Jones, was it?"
"Right, Jones. Um. I heard you had a cat…"
McCoy nodded. "Sure, I've got a cat. Want to meet him?"
"That's okay…"
"No trouble. Hey Surak! Get out here!"
After a long moment, the black cat wandered disdainfully into the room.
Jones jumped. "A cat. You really have got one."
"Right. Here, he'll let you pet him—"
"No. No, that's all right. Cats have claws. And teeth. And claws. And…and I just remembered something I have to do. Just passing through anyway see you later bye." Jones fled.
McCoy watched him go with a puzzled expression. He shook his head. "I really must look into that boy's psych file."
So that makes ten chapters. Hooray for me! And hooray for you guys for continuing to review!
Now that I've reached the big 1-0, this story's going to undergo a slight change in premise. Well, sort of a major change. Except for Chapters 7 and 9, each chapter has been a series of scenes, each featuring one character, and how they react. Well, that's fun, and it was the original point, but it's also rather limiting. The point is, starting next chapter, they're going to be reacting more often as a group. And actually there'll probably be less reacting and more barely controlled silliness. The reason I'm doing this is because it let's me use lots more plots, including complicated ones! And there'll still be some chapters of reacting. So this should be interesting. ^_^ (I could, of course, start another story for non-reacting incidents, but where's the fun in that?)
Next chapter up tomorrow: "Fanfiction.net."