Authrix' Note: This is a very, very bad pun. Sorry.
Tali wandered into her quarters after a rather long stint in the lab, going over some of the plant samples that she had picked up on Gilligan's Island, as the crew had started calling the planet where their diplomatic away team had been inadvertently stranded during their own three-hour tour. She was tired, but wanted to have a cup of tea and feed her lovelies before crashing for the night. She had already made her apologies for missing supper with Helene.
"Green tea, hot, two sugar," she asked the replicator, and took a deep breath of the aroma as it appeared. She took a sip as she bent to release Hammurabi from her cage, draping the boa over her neck. I'll just get out the Judeza crickets . . . she thought to herself, considering the food she had available. Judeza crickets were long-living, required virtually no food, and could live in an enclosed environment with little difficulty, which made them an ideal food source for her finicky reptiles, whereas her other mammals and birds could do with replicated food. Some of the more aggressive mammals enjoyed the crickets, too, but she avoided feeding them a steady diet, as Ju crickets were hard to get and they had to last.
Tali slid the container out from its storage place, and flipped open the lid. And stared.
It was completely empty.
She swore, and examined the box more closely. It was old, and somewhat flimsy, and a rather large hole had been clawed out of the side, the route of escape for the Ju crickets. What the hell could have done . . . Her eyes widened. That rat!
Tali set the mug down on her desk and quickly found the cage she was looking for. As she moved, she saw three crickets hop into one of her plants, and she swore again. She looked at the cage. From a short distance, it looked closed, but the hooks had been snapped, and the lid was just lying flat, instead of locked closed. Tali dropped to her knees and began looking about frantically. Hammurabi slid off her shoulders in pursuit of the tasty treats now hopping freely about the quarters.
"Hitler?" Tali called softly. "Hitler, you rat, where are you? Hitler?"
Helene jerked in surprise as Tali's panicked voice came over the comm. deLaki to Rostand!
"Tali, what is it?"
Helene! I need your help in my quarters, now!
"Why? What's wrong?" Helene asked, a thousand possibilities running through her mind.
Tali's voice was on the edge of panic. Hitler's going to kill all the Ju's! FIN