Genre: StarTrek: The Next Generation

Title: New Civilizations

Summary: Hosting the hat and an emergency in the Menagerie

Chapter 6

Picard had chosen ten crewmembers of the Enterprise for the Away Team. As chief diplomat, he was among the first to depart with two of the Kronatina and two other crewmembers. Before ascending the platform, he turned and said quietly, "Deanna, I think I'd like you to come down with me now, instead of later. With a possible glitch in the translator, I'll need your talents from the moment of arrival. I don't want single word to pass between us without some indication that what we are saying is being understood."

"Yes, of course. If it's any help, I sensed only sincerity on their part during the presentation. Also, a sort of anxiety, but that is in accordance with awarding what they consider as a part of themselves. Perhaps it is only one or two words that have simply been missed in precise translation."

"I hope so but I'm going to keep you by my side at least until I know for sure." As he stepped onto the transport platform, he transferred command of the ship to Riker adding, "I'll keep in touch."

"Good luck, sir."

"Thank you, Number One."

A few moments later, the last of the transport beam hum died and Riker dismissed the remaining crew. Beverly Crusher remained behind.

Will smiled familiarly at her. "Something I can do for you?"

"I just want to see what you do with that hat."

"Thanks for reminding me. The least I can do is relieve Lieutenant McAmbery."

Just then, Doc D'Jang appeared, breathless. "Where's the party? Did I miss it?"

"Over just now. What happened to you?" Riker asked.

"Oh, something they wanted me to deal with in the Menagerie. Will, there's a problem I may want to talk to you about later. I'll let you know. What did I miss?"

"All that's left is a gift they loaned us." Beverly answered enigmatically.

At D'Jang's inquiring looks, Dr. Crusher described the preceding events while they walked back to the reception room. She then asked Riker, "Do you suppose they bob and weave like that in order to show off their feathers?"

"I'd like to know why they insist on talking to our feet. Do you notice how they seem to bend over while they talk?"

Riker explained their guests' behavior to the Veterinarian." At first I thought they were showing off the headgear by doing that."

"Well, maybe the headdress is their official designation. Maybe the idea is to talk with the hat not the wearer. After all, in the military, we acknowledge the uniform not the person wearing it," said Beverly, not entirely sure of her own words. "They did make a big deal out of leaving one hat behind."

"I kept noticing that the one they took the hat from had to be supported by the two others after that. Do you suppose it was the loss of prestige or something? Was it part of a formality?" queried Riker.

They entered the reception room and approached the table where the feathered hat seemed to be crouching. The young lieutenant, who had been chosen to remain, turned from his inspection of one of the models of the Enterprise. "Permission to be excused, sir." Being left behind to stand watch over a hat was obviously not his idea of participating in the diplomatic procedures.

"Permission granted, Lieutenant." Riker smiled at him. "And Lieutenant, well done."

"Thank you, Commander." The look on his face betrayed that he wasn't sure what held done so well. Rather than ask, he took advantage of the permission to leave.

"I wonder if this thing is the carcass of an animal or a made up thing? Do you think I could possibly remove a small pinfeather from it for clinical examination? Hmmm, what does it look like inside?" The veterinarian, attracted to anything that looked like an animal, was drawn to the alien headdress. Before she could get close to the table, her insignia beeped. Sighing in frustration, she answered, "D'Jang here."

"Dr. T'Shing, please return to the Animal Clinic."

"On my way." She turned and started out the doors, calling over her shoulder, "When they call it the Clinic and not the Menagerie it's an emergency. So many animals, so little time."

Riker smiled one of his private little smiles as he watched the receding figure, his chest expanding.

Beverly watched that familiar look. "Going for older women now?" Beverly tried to sound indignant.

"My appreciation of the opposite sex is eclectic. If I were more impulsive, I might even consider acting on that attraction; as it is, I have simply enjoyed the view." Redirecting his attention, he turned to pick up the headdress. "Good thing I didn't have to think about whether I should have let her have a feather from this thing. I mean, hat or not, I don't suppose the Kronatts, uh, Kronatina, would want it to be plucked even in the interest of science." He sighed. "I suppose I could put this in my quarters. Is that being hospitable enough to a 'representative hat'?"

Taking a final look at the hat, Beverly said, "I'd think so. Well, I'm going to get back to work. See you later"

Will reached under the cup brim, as he had seen it handled by the Kronatt, and carried it out of the reception room.

&&&&

The emergency call that had summoned D'Jang concerned an out of control gerkiland, an albino anthropoid with a sharply jagged protuberance from just above the bridge of his nose to his crown, and three rows of razor teeth on upper and lower jaws. Although he weighed about three hundred pounds, the gerkiland was ordinarily a gentle pet, but when Doc D'Jang returned, the Menagerie was in chaos. Lab technicians were huddling behind counters and chairs, equipment was in broken disarray, and a very mad gerkiland was alternately beating on walls and counters, throwing anything it could find and screaming shrilly.

The vet took a dive for protection as soon as she entered the lab narrowly ducking a glass missile, which shattered against the closing door, while animals in cages against the wall grunted, squealed, or screamed in alarm. She quickly found one of her lab techs and heard an account of the situation.

A couple of members of the lab crew had noticed the usually quiet animal was acting oddly, so they'd assumed it was cranky from a lack of exercise. The owner had had a heavy duty-schedule recently, and hadn't been able to come and give the fuzzy ape-like creature the mild exercise it needed, so, the two technicians had brought the gerkiland out of its enclosure and had begun trotting it about.

The young girl ducked and shuddered as another instrument slammed against the wall and clattered to the floor. She said she'd personally witnessed the apparent change from the docile, shuffling 'sweetie' to the now raging beast.

D'Jang listened through the screaming and the pounding. Considering the words only a moment, she shouted her over the continuing racket, "I just made up a new rule of conduct with the animals here. From now on, no one is to take any of them out for a walk without asking me first."

She turned to the scared young woman she shared the protection of the barrier with. "Where is the nearest medi-kit? I need an injector."

Within the next few minutes the vet had anesthetized the raging beast mightily impressing her technicians because she'd made it look so easy. When asked how she'd done it she explained, "One of the nice things about gerkilands is that they expect people to take care of them. All I had to do was act like I was going to take care of him and then do it."

When the technicians all protested that they had been taking care of the beast, D'Jang shook her head and said, "You thought you were. You assumed. You saw a behavior, made a judgment, and carried through. That poor baby has a sore tooth! When you took him out for a walk, he went along, thinking you were going to take care of him. When he saw he was being walked around, but his tooth wasn't feeling any better, well, he got a little testy. I'll have more to say about this later. Right now I've got a tooth to pull and you have the lab to clean up."

Later, after the dental procedure, while the gerkiland was recovering in the safety and comfort of his enclosure, D'Jang turned her attention to her staff. Only then did she stop to ask if anyone had been hurt by the gerkiland's rampage.

After everybody had declared themselves uninjured, she continued, "Okay, we seem to be back to normal. Now I have a few words, especially for those who take sick gerkilands out for good will tours." Everyone froze, waiting respectfully for the wrath of their commanding officer to burn away their uniforms. "Keep up the good work." She shrugged her shoulders at the stunned group. "You tried to help and that's commendable. We're humans and we're supposed to make the mistakes; only animals are faultless."

As she was about to continue, they heard the doors to the reception area swish open, and D'Jang made a gesture to indicate that the crew was to resume their normal duties while she went greet the visitor.

Experienced with any variety of situations she was still not quite prepared for what she saw. A boy, about eight years old, stood wide-eyed, wet faced and out of breath clutching a mottled brown furry lump with bloody hands. He was followed by a woman, presumably his mother, also out of breath; both had pleading looks on their faces.

Not waiting for introductions, D'Jang turned, calling over her shoulder, "In here, quick!" They followed her into one of several small examination rooms. "Put him on the table." The boy could barely reach high enough to lay the limp furry bundle gently on the metal slab. Pushing buttons to start the diagnostics with one hand, she began pulling instruments out of a drawer with the other.

Doc D'Jang turned, eyes on the analytic readout on the wall panel, and laid her hands on the small rabbit. A moment later, leaving one hand on the rapidly breathing creature, she reached for a hypo, thumbed the appropriate mix of medication and dosage, and touched it firmly to its shoulder. Immediately after the brief hiss, the rabbit stretched ever so slightly and was quiet.

The change startled the boy. "Oh," he whimpered and looked with distressed eyes, first at his mother behind him and then at the veterinarian.

"Antibiotics, glucose and anesthesia," D'Jang said quietly to the mother while taking another instrument and working on the wound on the rabbit's neck and back. She continued in a more conversational voice to the child, "She's asleep now and not feeling the pain or the fright. When she wakes up she'll be a little tender on her neck but aside from that, she'll be all right. This must have happened very close to here for you to have come so fast."

"We were 'way over, down at the arboretum. I got here fast because I ran all the way. I can run really fast when I want to. Is Fuzzy really going to be okay?" His eyes never left his pet.

With practiced ease, Doc D'Jang's fingers pulled at the fur covered skin, drawing it over exposed muscle. At the same time, she aimed the twittering instrument, which had a faint blue gleam on its business end, at the joined areas. Frowning in concentration, rather than at the sight of torn and punctured flesh, the veterinarian kept up the conversation. "Yup. In fact," D'Jang stood up from her stoop over the table, "she's fine right now. She'll sleep a little while longer." She nodded at the silent woman behind the boy. "Why don't you help him to wash his hands off over there? I'll clean up the table. Then while we wait for… Fuzzy, is it? Yeah, wait for her to wake up, you can talk to me about how this happened."

TBC to Chapter 7

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